Plasma biomarker proteins for detection of human growth hormone administration in athletes

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 10039 - 12
• Main Authors: Tan, Sock-Hwee, Lee, Albert, Pascovici, Dana, Care, Natasha, Birzniece, Vita, Ho, Ken, Molloy, Mark P., Khan, Alamgir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 30-08-2017; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/61/475; 692/53/2421; 82/29; 82/58; 82/80; Abuse; Adolescent; Adult; alpha-2-HS-Glycoprotein - analysis; Apolipoprotein L1 - blood; Apolipoproteins; Athletes; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - blood; Extracellular matrix; Female; Growth hormones; Human Growth Hormone - administration & dosage; Human Growth Hormone - blood; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Insulin; Insulin-like growth factors; Male; multidisciplinary; Pituitary; Plasma proteins; Proteins; Proteome - chemistry; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; Substance Abuse Detection - methods; Vitamin D; Vitamin D-binding protein; Western blotting
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-09968-7

Human growth hormone (GH) is a naturally occurring hormone secreted by the pituitary gland with anabolic and growth-promoting activities. Since an increased availability of recombinant GH (rGH) for the treatment of GH-deficient patients, GH has been abused in sports and it is prohibited. “GH-isoform” and “biomarkers” tests are currently available for detection of GH abuse in sports, however both methods suffer from shortcomings. Here, we report on a proteomic approach to search for novel protein biomarkers associated with rGH administration in non-elite athletes. In this study, participants received either placebo or rGH for 8 weeks, and were followed over a 6-week washout period. We used 2-D DIGE and iTRAQ LC-MS/MS analyses to expose rGH-dependent marker proteins. Eight rGH-dependent plasma proteins namely apolipoproptein-L1, alpha-HS-glycoprotein, vitamin D-binding protein, afamin, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-ALS, lumican and extracellular matrix proteins 1 were identified. Apolipoprotein L1 and alpha-HS-glycoprotein were validated by Western blots to confirm their identities and expression patterns in rGH- and placebo-treated subject cohorts. Independent confirmation of these putative GH-responsive biomarkers would be of value for clinical practices and may have sports anti-doping utility.