Detecting peptidic drugs, drug candidates and analogs in sports doping: current status and future directions.
This review paper surveys the current landscape of analytical methods used in sports anti-doping laboratories to detect peptide-based drugs, drug candidates, and their analogs in biological specimens such as blood, serum, and urine. The authors describe the broad range of peptidic compounds subject to anti-doping scrutiny, spanning low-molecular-mass peptides (e.g., growth hormone-releasing peptides, ARA-290, TB-500, AOD-9604, CJC-1295, desmopressin) to intermediate-mass proteins (e.g., insulins, IGF-1, growth hormone, erythropoietin) and higher-molecular-mass biologics (e.g., stamulumab). The review outlines detection approaches including chromatographic-mass spectrometric, electrophoretic, immunological, and combined methodologies, emphasizing the challenge of proving exogenous origin at very low concentrations in limited sample volumes. A central finding is that a meaningful gap remains between what is technically achievable in detection and what is routinely practiced in day-to-day analytical workflows. Limitations of this paper include its nature as a narrative review rather than an original experimental study, meaning it synthesizes existing literature without generating new empirical data. It does not evaluate clinical outcomes or therapeutic efficacy of any compound discussed.