Urinary phenylethylamine metabolites as potential markers for sports drug testing purposes

The misuse of 2-phenylethylamine (PEA) in sporting competitions is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. As it is endogenously produced, a method is required to differentiate between naturally elevated levels of PEA and the illicit administration of the drug. In 2015, a sulfo-conjugated metabolite [2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)acetamide sulfate (M1)] was identified, and pilot study data suggested that the ratio M1/PEA could be used as a marker indicating the oral application of PEA. Within this project, the required reference material of M1 was synthesized, single and multiple dose elimination studies were conducted and 369 native urine samples of athletes were analyzed as a reference population. While the oral administration of only 100 mg PEA did not affect urinary PEA concentrations, an increase in urinary concentrations of M1 was observed for all volunteers. However, urinary concentrations of both PEA and M1 showed relatively large inter-individual differences and establishing a cut-off-level for M1/PEA proved difficult. Consequently, a second metabolite, phenylacetylglutamine, was considered. Binary logistic regression demonstrated a significant (P < 0.05) correlation of the urinary M1 and phenylacetylglutamine concentrations with an oral administration of PEA, suggesting that assessing both analytes can assist doping control laboratories in identifying PEA misuse.