EPO abuse in sport

In many sport disciplines the delivery of oxygen to muscles plays a critical role. Indeed, muscle performance declines during prolonged and intense activity as a consequence of the shift from the aerobic to the anaerobic metabolism with an increase of lactate. To enhance the aerobic capacity two alternatives may be used: increasing either the transport or the delivery of oxygen. In this setting, erythropoietin use is the practice of illicitly using a drug to improve athletic performances. In the present overview, old and newer erythropoietic stimulating molecules are described with a special emphasis on their potential side effects. Direct and indirect detection methods are briefly described with the aim of mentioning their roles and limits with regard to anti-doping strategie