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Oxygen delivery enhancers: Past, present, and future

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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) erythropoiesisstimulating substances [recombinant human erythropoietin (α, β, ω), darbepoietin-α, 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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Internal Medicine, University of Turin, Regione Gonzole 10, Orbassano, Turin, Italy

    P. Borrione MD & A. Angeli

  2. Consorzio Regionale Antidoping, Orbassano, Turin, Italy

    P. Borrione MD, A. Mastrone, R. A. Salvo, A. Spaccamiglio & L. Grasso

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  1. P. Borrione MD
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  2. A. Mastrone
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  3. R. A. Salvo
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  4. A. Spaccamiglio
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  5. L. Grasso
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  6. A. Angeli
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Correspondence to P. Borrione MD.

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Borrione, P., Mastrone, A., Salvo, R.A. et al. Oxygen delivery enhancers: Past, present, and future. J Endocrinol Invest 31, 185–192 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03345588

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03345588

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