HGH Takes Center Stage at Conference

Never has the anti-doping community spent so much time and money on one drug.

Human growth hormone (HGH), what was thought to be the magic pharmaceutical that some said could improve eyesight and reverse the aging process just a handful of years ago. Many of those claims have been rebuffed, but researchers haven't stopped looking for a better way to detect HGH use by athletes -- even if it's not clear how widespread the problem is today.

"Information out there suggests that it's still a problem," said Larry Bowers, the chief science officer at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). "I am not sure we have the information to know the extent, but it's certainly talked about a lot. And then we have the one circumstance of somebody admitting to using HGH after a validated blood test."

The first Partnership for Clean Competition Conference couldn't have taken place at a better time than now. Bowers is one of several speakers expected to lend their voice in New York on Thursday on the topic of HGH, which has become all the more newsworthy in recent days.

First, it was announced on Feb. 22 that a British rugby player had become the first athlete to test positive for HGH in the six-year history of the test. Then news broke that federal authorities are seeking out several athletes --- including New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez and New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes --- as part of an investigation of a Toronto doctor who may have peddled the stuff.

Major League Baseball hopped on the positive test and said it would implement the HGH blood test to its Minor League Drug Program, a relatively easy step since minor league players aren't covered by the players' union. MLB said in a statement it would also look into doing the same in the majors, which would have to be collectively bargained with the MLBPA.

"The Commissioner remains committed to the position that we must act aggressively to deal with the issue of HGH," MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said in an e-mail.

National Football League spokesman Greg Aiello said the league was "closely following developments on HGH testing."

Like MLB, the NFL is part of the Partnership for Clean Competition, a consortium of leagues and organizations that also included the U.S. Olympic Committee and USADA. The PCC has distributed thousands of dollars in grants since it was formed two years ago with a large portion going to the development of better methods to detect HGH.

The leagues and unions would like nothing better than to institute a urine test for HGH, the only way major pro sports currently screen for performance-enhancing drugs. The current test, which is expensive and many still question its efficacy, requires a blood sample.

Bowers said it could take up to five years before researchers have a urine test for HGH on the market, although a small start-up called Ceres Nano in Virginia has made progress. With the help from a grant from USADA, Ceres is wrapping up a study that measured the baseline levels of HGH in urine.

"We are proceeding methodically," says Emanuel "Chip" Petricoin, one of two George Mason University researchers leading the study for Ceres. "We never knew what the 'normal' HGH levels are in urine since you've never been able to measure it until now."


Next up for Petricoin's group is finding a specific indicator tied to synthetic HGH, a process that could take several more months to complete.

Bowers said a blood test is likely the way to go in the near term -- and there could be a better mousetrap on the horizon. Bowers will present the findings from a California startup that could detect HGH in blood between five to eight days from its last use; the window for the current test is as short as 24 hours.

So if blood is the only way to go in the near future, will MLB, NFL and the other leagues be able to convince their unions to go along?

"The NFLPA along with the NFL has supported research to find a suitable test that will detect sustained HGH use," NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis said in an e-mail. "We have and will continue to work with the NFL to build a system that is fair, reliable and maintains the integrity of our game and the health and safety of our players."

A source close to one of the major professional unions said that if further research shows HGH can only be detected in blood, than he expects the players would approve such testing.

The last time there was a similar summit called on HGH, one of the presenters said there's evidence to show the hormone may not be considered. Thomas Perls, a professor at Boston University School of Medicine, said on its own HGH may not do much for an athlete.

The only approved used for HGH are for AIDS wasting disease and for children who are lagging far behind the growth curve. Off-label use is prohibited by federal law, but that hasn't stopped bodybuilders and other athletes to turning to the drug.

But Millard Baker, who runs one of the leading steroid resources sites in the internet, says the use of HGH may be on the wane.

"Anecdotally, I think it is," says Baker, who owns Mesomorphosis.com . "When it first came out, many people thought it was the holy grail of performance-enhancing drugs. If you weren't getting results with steroids, you turned to HGH. It never lived up to the expectations. By itself, the only thing most people agree that it does is reduce body fat and if you're an elite athlete, you shouldn't have that problem anyway."