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| Mitsubishi Kagaku Bio-Clinical Laboratories, Inc. |
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| January - February 2005. 2005 |
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| Cutting-edge technology enters the limelight. Banish the misuse of unauthorized drugs from sporting events. |
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| Doping is a misuse of drugs in sports. Detecting the misuse needs a cutting-edge technology for testing. Technology development is something Mitsubishi Kagaku Bio-Clinical Laboratories, Inc. always makes efforts in as the only IOC-accredited doping test laboratory in Japan, and the results too, are reflected in the general clinical testings. |
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| What is the history of doping tests? |
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| Director Makoto Ueki, leading doping test expert in Japan. |
| The history of doping is old, and it is said that in the ancient Roman times, brave men chewed some coca leaves to boost morale before the games. In modern times, an increasing number of bicycle racers used stimulant drugs in harsh races, which resulted in some deaths, and some racers became addicts. Therefore, in order to protect the health of athletes and to hold fair sporting events, doping tests were officially introduced at the Grenoble (winter) and Mexico Olympic Games. |
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| In Japan, a doping test was officially introduced at the Kobe Universiade in 1985. At that time there was no official IOC doping test organization in the country. Mitsubishi Yuka Laboratory of Medical Science Co., Ltd. (present Mitsubishi Kagaku Bio-Clinical Laboratories, Inc. or MBC), a major clinical testing company, therefore took on the challenge to be certified. Although there was a need to have a testing technology and system for 50 types of regulated drugs to be certified, Doping Control Laboratory Director Makoto Ueki and his team made this possible by making full use of instrumental analysis methods such as gas chromatography. Ueki even went as far as to take drugs himself to study drug metabolism. Through other hard work he made MBC the first IOC-accredited doping test body in Asia, and second of its kind in the world as a private company. |
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| Since then, interest in the doping issue has gradually been increasing. Currently the number of athletes tested is about 3,000 per year, including J-League and other professional athletes. MBC has carried out tests for the Nagano Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup Korea Japan, and more recently for the qualifiers for the Olympics in Athens. Incidentally, the doping tests which used to be under IOC jurisdiction are now carried out by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) established in 1999. The reason is, since the IOC is itself an organizing body of the Olympic Games, it was decided that a fair third-party organization should be entrusted to do the test. |
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| Specimen (urine) is placed in a test tube and a test preparation is made. |
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| How are the tests conducted? |
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| Normally, the process of doping test starts with urine/blood sampling and then the samples are transported and measured. The results are then reported to responsible medical authorities of the sporting event. In the case of individual sports, urine/blood samples are taken from the top 3 athletes and one other athlete selected by lottery, within a short time after the competition. Samples (urine or blood) are placed in containers and sealed, then sent to MBC under a strict transportation system. Each sample is then condensed into a tiny drop of liquid and tested by various methods with devices such as mass spectrometer. Then it is measured for drug substances and their amounts. An exceptional measurement technique is required to detect unauthorized substances from just a tiny sample amount because there are currently over 100 types of regulated drugs. Also, in some cases, the test must be completed within 24 hours because the result is required by the time the next game begins if the event is a league game. During the Nagano Olympics, test devices were moved into the Nagano Public Health Center and tests were conducted around the clock in 3 shifts. During the FIFA World Cup Korea Japan, the tests were conducted for about a month in 2 shifts without days off. |
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| Blood sampling may be strongly resisted by some religions and countries, and urine was the principle specimen used for doping tests in the past. In recent years, however, a hormone called erythropoietin (EPO) began to be used to enhance stamina. EPO promotes red blood cell production and increases oxygen-supplying power. A blood test became indispensable for its detection, so it began at the Sydney Olympics for the first time. Three gold medals were taken away at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002. This led to a rush decision to conduct EPO tests at the FIFA World Cup Korea Japan, to be held only 3 months later. At the time, MBC had not introduced an EPO test system, and when the Los Angeles body which was responsible for the tests at the Salt Lake City Olympics was asked, they replied that it would take 6 months to be introduced. Although it was considered to be totally impossible in just 3 months, MBC had long accumulated EPO data and, in addition, MBC's R&D division possessed a technique called the double immuno-blotting method which is used in EPO measurement. Based on this, our developers lived and worked in the company for about 2 months and finally established the test technique 10 days before the World Cup began. During the World Cup, although a Korean organization also took part in the doping tests, their technique could not be introduced quickly enough, thus MBC also carried out EPO tests for Korea. |
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| What kinds of test were conducted in Athens? |
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| In the qualifying round of the Athens Olympics, MBC was kept busy with doping tests for athletes competing in various sports such as athletics, swimming, soccer and volleyball. Even when they were finally finished, it did not mean that it was time for a rest because there was a possibility of detecting new methods of doping in Athens. |
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| One of the methods, as expected, was a transfusion of artificial red blood cells to enhance stamina. Another method was to administer growth hormone to build muscles. Artificial red blood cells are relatively easy to detect visually, whereas growth hormone detection is more difficult. Since the constitutions of the growth hormone produced naturally in the body and the commercially available growth hormone preparation are exactly the same, it is difficult to distinguish the two, and tests and detection have been made impossible for a long time. However, there are 2 types of growth hormone with molecular quantities of 20,000 and 22,000 in the body at a fixed ratio, and in recent years a Japanese researcher discovered that when growth hormone preparation (molecular quantities of 22,000) was administered, hormone synthesis in the body was suppressed, and the proportion of hormone with molecular quantities of 22,000 significantly exceeded that with molecular quantities of 20,000. Based on this discovery, a German endocrine research institute immediately developed a test technique and doping test organizations in Athens, London and Sydney introduced it. MBC has also been developing its own technique based on its research results, and a comparative study was made on the two techniques. Basic data was also made for actual use at the Olympics in Athens. Tests of samples from athletes of several countries were carried out by the time the Olympics began, and MBC played a part in this project. |
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| What is the prospect of future doping tests? |
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| In Europe, doping is used in anything from international events to citizens' competitions. The demand for tests is therefore high and tests are conducted for tens of thousands of athletes, including professional football players in the U.S. Although test objects have been limited until now in Japan, the government began to conduct doping tests, and it is introduced in some of the games in interscholastic athletic meets and in a national athletic meet. With a growing interest in doping, recognition of MBC has been increasing while the cutting-edge drug testing technique developed through doping tests is reflected in our clinical testing technology and enhancing its capability. |
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| The data search system we built quickly checks and identifies the constituents contained in specimens. Lives of patients are also saved by responding to emergency test requests from emergency medical care centers and to other requests received from intoxication centers. Also, in the last few years, the use of narcotic and stimulant drugs by young people has rapidly been increasing, so we set up a special division to respond to requests for this kind of test. Demands for such tests are increasing steadily. It can be said that socially, the importance of MBC doping technique has been increasing even more. |
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Mitsubishi Kagaku Bio-Clinical Laboratories, Inc.*
2-8 Shibaura 4-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8559
TEL: [+81] (0)3-6722-4000
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Mitsubishi Kagaku Bio-Clinical Laboratories, Inc. has started to operate its business as Mitsubishi Chemical Medience Corporation, as of April 1, 2007. |
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