Original paperStandardising analysis of carbon monoxide rebreathing for application in anti-doping
Introduction
The advent of multi-wavelength spectrophotometers, such as the OSM3 hemoximeter (Radiometer, Copenhagen, Denmark),1 for automated measurement of percent carboxyhaemoglobin (%HbCO) in blood, allowed expedient determination of total haemoglobin mass (Hbmass) via carbon monoxide (CO) rebreathing.2, 3, 4 Indeed, CO-rebreathing has mostly superseded other methods such as Evans Blue dye and radioactive chromium5 to quantify the erythropoietic effects of altitude training.6, 7, 8 However, determination of Hbmass depends heavily on the reliability and precision of measuring blood %HbCO,5 typically on an OSM3 hemoximeter. Although there are potentially a number of other methodological steps that could contribute to the technical error of Hbmass, such as a gross error in the dose of CO or a leak from the athlete,5 the analyser error (as a sub-component of technical error) can be most readily quantified and ameliorated.
The reproducibility of the OSM3 is the critical determinant of analyser error because this hemoximeter provides %HbCO to only .1% resolution. However, multiple measures on each blood sample will attenuate error as a function of replicates.9 A theoretical analysis of error propagation concluded that, using an OSM3 hemoximeter, five replicates were necessary to estimate blood volume (BV) via CO-rebreathing with an error of 3.6%.10 Instead of using empirical data, these authors relied on the manufacturer's specification for repeatability of analyses of %HbCO on the OSM3. Also based on the .1% resolution of the OSM3, Burge and Skinner4 recommended that four replicates of %HbCO reduced the error of measurement of Hbmass to 1.5%. However, since these recommendations in the early to mid-1990s, some authors have used as few as one measure of %HbCO,11, 12 yet others have used the average of duplicates,13 duplicates as the average of successive single measures taken a few minutes apart2, 3, 14 or triplicates.6 Still others have measured %HbCO in quadruplicate,4, 7 four to eight replicates,15 quintuplicates,16, 17, 18 sextuplicates8 or octuplicates.19 Fewer replicates may explain why some authors have poor measurement error for Hbmass – as large as 12%.5
A meta-analysis demonstrated that the CO-rebreathing method has total measurement error of ∼2.2% for Hbmass.5 This total error likely comprises both biological and technical errors, which are independent and additive20 such that:By substitution into Eq. (1), we can deduce that, ideally, the technical error should be ≤1% so that biological error (2%) is almost entirely the source of measurement error (of 2.2%); that isHowever, the magnitude of biological error of Hbmass is uncertain.18 It is also plausible that the total error of measurement for Hbmass (2.2%) is almost completely technical in origin, with one component of technical error being Analyser Error (ideally ≤1%) and the remainder (∼2%) being residual technical error.
Based up the assumption of independence of errors, the aim of this study was to determine empirically the number of replicates required to yield an analyser error of ≤1% for an OSM3 hemoximeter. Quantifying and minimising analyser error becomes particularly relevant if authorities seek to use Hbmass as part of the biological passport21 in the fight against blood-doping.11, 14
Section snippets
Methods
Nine recreationally active non-smoking volunteers, seven men and two women, participated in this study. The mean (and standard deviation (SD)) age, height and body mass of the men was 38.4 (9.4) years, 183.3 (6.7) cm and 80.4 (7.1) kg, and the corresponding values for the women were 25.1 (.5), 166.7 (4.2) and 53.4 (5.1). All experimental procedures were approved by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Ethics Committee and written consent was obtained prior to testing. The funding body of the
Results
Table 1 presents the SD of the %HbCO for each of the three OSM3 hemoximeters at both Low and High %HbCO, and for the pooled SD. The SD and associated confidence limits are similar for both Low and High %HbCO; for instance the SD (and confidence limits) for five replicates for OSM3-1 are .039 (.029–.059) %HbCO for Low and are .038 (.034–.042) %HbCO for High. The raw values in Table 1 are more readily understood when expressed as Theoretical Analyser Error (Fig. 1); for example the pooled SD
Discussion
Our results suggest that Hbmass via CO-rebreathing might be a suitable candidate for inclusion as part of the biological passport21 in the fight against blood-doping11, 14 because Analyser Error of the method can be expediently reduced to ≤1%, which is much less than the 10% magnitude that an athlete might seek to illegally boost their Hbmass.11, 14 In order to reduce the Analyser Error of measuring %HbCO with an OSM3 hemoximeter to ≤1%, our results indicate that five replicates are necessary
Practical implications
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Total body haemoglobin measured carefully with carbon monoxide rebreathing is sufficiently accurate to be a useful adjunct in the fight against blood-doping.
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Carbon monoxide rebreathing can readily be conducted in the field and is thus a practical anti-doping technique, not merely a laboratory measure.
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In order to make accurate measures an athlete would require a dose of carbon monoxide to bind to ∼6% of their total haemoglobin, at least 8 h before competition to prevent any decrease in their
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for funding support of the Australian Institute of Sport Applied Research Centre.
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