The well-known effect of erythropoietin (Epo) in boosting aerobic exercise capacity seems to be mainly due to its capacity to increase blood oxygen transport. The reliable determination of human recombinant erythropoietin (rhEpo) abuse to enhance the athletic performance is an important problem for sport e represents a continuous challenge for investigators involved in anti-doping. The analytical tests presently used to detect rhEpo in urines, in particular after the administration of microdoses of the hormone, are often inadequate and cumbersome and a number of factors may interfere with the interpretation of the results. Hepcidin, a liver-derived peptide which is the major regulator of body iron metabolism, is an accurate indicator of changes in the blood levels of Epo. Indeed, Epo administration in humans caused a marked reduction in urinary and circulating hepcidin. Therefore, the aim of the present project is to verify whether the determination of hepcidin may represent a valid alternative method to detect an inappropriate use of rhEpo for doping purposes. Such an indirect approach could be also useful for the detection of the use of last generation pharmacological agents such as continuous erythropoietin receptor activators (CERA). The detection of hepcidin in urines and serum has been performed so far by means of immunological assays or SELDI-TOF-MS techniques, which present problems related to quantitative determination and requirement for expensive equipment and skilled personnel, respectively. In this context, a flexible platform, consisting of a biochip coupled to a label free technology for simultaneous measurements in short time could represent an innovative approach for selectively detecting a doping marker
The well-known effect of erythropoietin (Epo) in boosting aerobic exercise capacity seems to be mainly due to its capacity to increase blood oxygen transport. The reliable determination of human recombinant erythropoietin (rhEpo) abuse to enhance the athletic performance is an important problem for sport e represents a continuous challenge for investigators involved in anti-doping. The analytical tests presently used to detect rhEpo in urines, in particular after the administration of microdoses of the hormone, are often inadequate and cumbersome and a number of factors may interfere with the interpretation of the results. Hepcidin, a liver-derived peptide which is the major regulator of body iron metabolism, is an accurate indicator of changes in the blood levels of Epo. Indeed, Epo administration in humans caused a marked reduction in urinary and circulating hepcidin. Therefore, the aim of the present project is to verify whether the determination of hepcidin may represent a valid alternative method to detect an inappropriate use of rhEpo for doping purposes. Such an indirect approach could be also useful for the detection of the use of last generation pharmacological agents such as continuous erythropoietin receptor activators (CERA). The detection of hepcidin in urines and serum has been performed so far by means of immunological assays or SELDI-TOF-MS techniques, which present problems related to quantitative determination and requirement for expensive equipment and skilled personnel, respectively. In this context, a flexible platform, consisting of a biochip coupled to a label free technology for simultaneous measurements in short time could represent an innovative approach for selectively detecting a doping marker