Researchers while presenting results of an animal study at the Endocrine Society’s 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco made claims about potential new biomarkers for growth hormone (GH).

The identification is expected to have implications for helping doping officials in identifying and preventing the use of growth hormone and steroids during sporting events.

From News-Medical.Net:

Many athletes are misusing recombinant human growth hormone, a drug intended for people who are growth hormone deficient, because of its supposed ability to decrease fat and increase muscle. However, detection remains a challenge. The growth hormone drug appears only briefly in blood and is identical to the growth hormone that the body naturally makes, said study coauthor John Kopchick, PhD, of Ohio University.

“Variability is a problem with current testing for growth hormone doping,” Kopchick said. “It is gender and age-sensitive. We’re looking for a test that will give standard results for everyone.”

The authors are attempting to identify proteins in the blood that could be biomarkers for growth hormone action. A biomarker is a substance that can be detected in higher-than-normal amounts in the blood, urine, or body tissues and thus could be used for screening.

It was remarked by John Kopchick, PhD, of Ohio University and co-author of the study that extensions of the results can be considered to be of great importance to human beings.