Doping offenses involve the use or attempted use of any prohibited method or substance as well as substituting samples. Consequently, it has been recommended that short tandem repeat (STR) analysis be used to determine if the doping control samples are from the same athlete. However, it has been recognized that it may be difficult to obtain full STR analysis using negligible amounts of DNA samples. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is characterized by its stability and high cellular copy number. Therefore, mtDNA testing in urine is expected to be used to analyze samples that cannot be analyzed using STR analysis. The objective of this study was to compare mtDNA testing with STR analysis by conducting sensitivity, concordance (whole blood, dried blood spot, and urine), and case-type studies. In sensitivity studies, mtDNA testing exhibited greater sensitivity compared with STR analysis. Concordance studies indicated that all samples were consistent with the mtDNA sequences and STR profiles. Allelic dropout occurred in some urine samples that were examined for STR analysis. Case-type sample studies demonstrated that mtDNA testing could be used to obtain DNA profiles of all the samples tested, including blood, dried blood spots, urine, blood residues on needles, and blood stains. In conclusion, mtDNA testing is valuable for analyzing highly degraded DNA samples, such as urine samples, compared with STR analysis. Urine testing should be performed for the initial testing procedure, because mtDNA is inherited maternally. In situations where the DNA match is detrimental to the athlete, additional blood STR analysis may be required.
Keywords: DNA analysis; doping; mitochondrial DNA; short tandem repeat.
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