MSACL 2019 EU Abstract

Influence of Saw Palmetto and Pygeum Africana Extracts on the Urinary Concentration of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids

Michele Iannone (1), Amelia Palermo (1), Francesco Botre' (1-2), Xavier de la Torre (1), Monica Mazzarino (1)
(1) Laboratorio Antidoping, Federazione Medico-Sportiva Italiana, Rome, Italy; (2) "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy

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Francesco Botre (Presenter) "Sapienza" University of Rome & Antidoping Lab FMS >> POSTER (PDF)

Presenter Bio: Born in Rome (Italy). Chemist, Pharmacist, Pharmacologist. Professor at the “Sapienza” University of Rome, teaching “Drug and Metabolite Analysis” at the School of Pharmacy and Medicine; "Physiopathological bases of diseases" at the School of Medicine and Odontoiatry, at the Post-Degree Specialization Schools in Pharmacology and in Sport Medicine and at the PhD School in Endocrinology. Responsible of the laboratory of chromatography-mass spectrometry at the Department of Experimental Medicine of the "Sapienza" University.
Scientific Director of the “Laboratorio Antidoping FMSI”, the Italian antidoping laboratory accredited ISO/IEC17025 and by the World Anti-Doping Agency, since November 1998.
Author of over 300 scientific publications, monographs and conference proceedings in the field of bio-pharmaceutical, environmental, toxicological and food analysis

Relevant Financial Disclosures (within past 24 months) No relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose. Conflict mitigation NOT REQUIRED.

Introduction
The detection of doping by “pseudo-endogenous steroid” (endogenous steroid when administered exogenously) is based on the longitudinal monitoring of six steroidal urinary markers and their relative ratios by the application of a Bayesian adaptive model that is able to predict the maximum individual variability for each marker based on the previous data to outline atypical results. Although the introduction of the longitudinal steroid profile clearly improved the detection of the pseudo-endogenous steroid doping, it does not allow to gather any information on the occurence of atypical profiles due to the presence of endogenous or exogenous confounding factors that could influence the urinary excretion of the described markers.
Objective
The aim of the present work is to evaluate the influence of the administration of a daily dose of nutritional supplements (Saw palmetto and Pygeum africana herbal extracts) containing β-sitosterol, on the urinary concentrations of a series of target steroids non limited to those included in the steroidal module of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP).
Methods
After enzymatic hydrolysis with β-glucuronidase and liquid-liquid extraction at pH 9 with tert-butylmethyl ether, all urinary samples, collected from three caucasican volunteers before (six samples/day for five consecutive days) and during (six samples/day for five consecutive days) the administration of the Saw palmetto and Pygeum africana herbal supplements, were analyzed by gas-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) according to the validated and routinely applied analytical procedure performed in our laboratory to determine the urinary steroid profile of each athlete.
Results
In this work we have highlighted the effects of the intake of β-sitosterol contained in herbal supplement on the parameters considered in the evaluation of the pseudo-endogenous steroid doping. Our results have shown that oral administration for five consecutive days provokes an alteration of the levels of some target steroids and of the corresponding concentration ratios, most likely due to effects on cholesterol and prostaglandin metabolism. These effects could interfere with the correct longitudinal evaluation of the steroid profile, causing misinterpretations in the data collected in the framework of the ABP.
Conclusions
The influence of Saw palmetto and Pygeum africana herbal supplement containing β-sitosterol on the analytical strategy currently adopted for the detection of pseudo-endogenous steroid doping should be carefully taken into account, also given the wide diffusion of “over-the-counter” products. The large intake of this kind of preparations could be a source of interference in the correct longitudinal evaluation of the steroid profile, as described in the framework of the ABP.