Development of a New Doping Testing Method Using Differences in the Molecular Weight of Growth Hormone

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K11530
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: Nippon Medical School
• Principal Investigator: Ishikawa Mayumi 日本医科大学, 医学部, 准教授 (60398831)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 石川 隆紀 大阪公立大学, 大学院医学研究科, 教授 (50381984)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 成長ホルモン / ドーピング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

There are several Variants of GH with different molecular weights. GH with a molecular weight of 20,000 (20K-GH) accounts for about 6% of GH in blood and its share of GH production is constant and hardly changes. External GH administration decreases the percentage of 20K-GH in blood and urine because most of it is GH with a molecular weight of 22,000 (22K-GH). Taking advantage of this characteristic, we attempted to determine the presence or absence of external GH administration by immunostaining head hair with an antibody specific for 20K-GH. It was found that the hair follicles of normal subjects were stained with antibodies specific for 20K-GH, but not those of patients with GH deficiency who were receiving GH replacement therapy.

Free Research Field

内分泌学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により、毛根部に成長ホルモン（GH）が一定期間、分子として残存することが明らかになった。また体内に少ない分子量20,000のGH(20K-GH)を、20K-GHに特異的な抗体を用いて毛根部で検出できることが明らかになった。
GHは体内にも存在する内因性ホルモンのために、今まではドーピングにGHを使用したか否かの判定が難しかった。頭髪の採取は侵襲が比較的少なく簡便であり、毛根部の20K-GHの免疫染色は、新たなドーピング検出方法につながる可能性が示唆された。