Oxygen delivery enhancers: past, present, and future.

Abstract

In endurance sport the delivery of oxygen to muscles plays a critical role. Indeed, muscle performance declines during prolonged and intense activity as a consequence of the shift from the aerobic to the anaerobic metabolism with an increase of lactate. To enhance the aerobic capacity 2 alternatives may be used: increasing either the transport or the delivery of oxygen. In this setting, blood doping is the practice of illicitly using a drug or blood product to improve athletic performance. Based on this definition, blood doping techniques may include: 1) blood transfusion (autologous or omologous); 2) erythropoiesis-stimulating substances [recombinant human erythropoietin (alpha, beta, omega), darbepoietin-alpha, continuous erythropoiesis receptor activator, hematide]; 3) blood substitutes (hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers, perfluorocarbon emulsions); 4) allosteric modulators of hemoglobin (RSR-13 and RSR-4); 5) gene doping (human erythropoietin gene transfection); 6) gene regulation (hypoxia-inducible transcription factors pathway). In the present overview we will briefly describe the above-mentioned techniques with the aim of underlining potential hematological alternatives to gene doping for increasing aerobic capacity in sport.

• Authors: P Borrione, A Mastrone, R A Salvo, A Spaccamiglio, L Grasso, A Angeli
• Journal: Journal of endocrinological investigation (J Endocrinol Invest) Vol. 31 Issue 2 Pg. 185-92 (Feb 2008) ISSN: 1720-8386 [Electronic] Italy
• PMID: 18362513 (Publication Type: Evaluation Study, Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)

Chemical References

• Fluorocarbons
• Hemoglobins
• Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1
• Peptides
• Recombinant Proteins
• continuous erythropoietin receptor activator
• hematide
• Erythropoietin
• Polyethylene Glycols
• Oxygen

Topics

• Animals
• Biological Transport (physiology)
• Blood Transfusion (methods)
• Doping in Sports (trends)
• Drug Delivery Systems (methods, trends)
• Erythropoietin (administration & dosage, pharmacology)
• Fluorocarbons (administration & dosage)
• Gene Transfer Techniques
• Hemoglobins (administration & dosage, chemistry)
• Humans
• Hypoxia (therapy)
• Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 (metabolism)
• Models, Biological
• Oxygen (administration & dosage, metabolism)
• Peptides (administration & dosage, pharmacology)
• Polyethylene Glycols (administration & dosage, pharmacology)
• Recombinant Proteins (administration & dosage, pharmacology)
• Substance Abuse Detection (methods)