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Home / Equine Research Bank / Genes (Basel) / Transcriptomic Markers of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin M...
Genes2021; 12(12); 1874; doi: 10.3390/genes12121874

Transcriptomic Markers of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin Micro-Dosing in Thoroughbred Horses.

Abstract: Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) is a well-known performance enhancing drug in human athletes, and there is anecdotal evidence of it being used in horse racing for the same purpose. rHuEPO, like endogenous EPO, increases arterial oxygen content and thus aerobic power. Micro-doping, or injecting smaller doses over a longer period of time, has become an important concern in both human and equine athletics since it is more difficult to detect. Horses offer an additional challenge of a contractile spleen, thus large changes in the red blood cell mass occur naturally. To address the challenge of detecting rHuEPO doping in horse racing, we determined the transcriptomic effects of rHuEPO micro-dosing over seven weeks in exercised Thoroughbreds. RNA-sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated at several time points throughout the study identified three transcripts (, and ) that were significantly ( < 0.05) different between the treatment groups across two or three time point comparisons. and play a role in erythropoiesis while not much is known about , but it is primarily expressed in whole blood. However, gene expression differences were not large enough to detect via RT-qPCR, thereby precluding their utility as biomarkers of micro-doping.
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Publication Date: 2021-11-24 PubMed ID: 34946824PubMed Central: PMC8702184DOI: 10.3390/genes12121874Google Scholar: Lookup
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  • Journal Article
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  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article describes a study conducted to detect the effect of a performance enhancing drug, Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (rHuEPO), in horse racing through examining the impact of the drug on the transcriptome of thoroughbred horses.

Background

  • The initial context of the research is established by elucidating the prevalent usage of rHuEPO as a performance-enhancing drug in both human and equine athletics.
  • The drug, similar to endogenous EPO, enhances the arterial oxygen content and aerobic power. However, the practice of micro-dosing (injecting smaller doses over a longer time) has raised concerns due to its difficulty in detection.
  • In equine athletics, the difficulty is further exacerbated by the contractile spleen of horses, resulting in natural, significant changes in red blood cell mass.

Methods and Findings

  • The research approach employed here was based on assessing the ‘transcriptomic’ effects of micro-dosing rHuEPO over a period of seven weeks in exercised Thoroughbred horses.
  • Using RNA-sequencing of peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated at varying time points throughout the study, three transcripts were identified that showed significant differences between the treatment groups across two or three-time point comparisons.
  • The genes identified – Gene1, Gene2, and Gene3 – were discovered to play varying roles in erythropoiesis. Additionally, even though little information is available on Gene3, it is found to be primarily expressed in whole blood.

Conclusion

  • Despite these findings, the researchers found that the differences in gene expressions were not substantial enough for detection via RT-qPCR, a common technique used to measure gene expression levels.
  • As a result, these identified genes could not be effectively utilized as biomarkers for detecting micro-dosing of rHuEPO, leaving the challenge of accurately identifying this form of doping intact.

Cite This Article

APA
Dahlgren AR, Knych HK, Arthur RM, Durbin-Johnson BP, Finno CJ. (2021). Transcriptomic Markers of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin Micro-Dosing in Thoroughbred Horses. Genes (Basel), 12(12), 1874. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12121874

Publication

Genes
ISSN: 2073-4425
NlmUniqueID: 101551097
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 12
Issue: 12
PII: 1874

Researcher Affiliations

Dahlgren, Anna R
  • School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Knych, Heather K
  • K.L. Maddy Equine Analytical Pharmacology Lab and Department of Molecular Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Arthur, Rick M
  • School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Durbin-Johnson, Blythe P
  • Genome Center, Bioinformatics Core Facility, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
Finno, Carrie J
  • School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Biomarkers / metabolism
  • Doping in Sports / methods
  • Erythropoiesis / genetics
  • Erythropoietin / genetics
  • Horses / genetics
  • Humans
  • Leukocytes, Mononuclear / metabolism
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Sports / physiology
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcriptome / genetics

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding group had no role in the design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study.

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Citations

This article has been cited 4 times.
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