Kiwi Stewart banned 2 years for 'attempted' EPO/hCG use, Sentjens A-sample +ve for EPO

Goodbye Adam Stewart and hello Roy Sentjens. Stewart didn't even get to try his EPO and hCG (allegedly) whereas Roy was (also allegedly) a user of EPO.

Now the hCG is interesting - as it more often used to alleviate the side-effects of anabolic steroid abuse. Alternatively (possibly) it may have a blood-boosting or EPO-masking property that I was previously unaware of...


Attempted Substance Use Sees Kiwi Dumped From National Squad | Cyclingnews.com

Adam Stewart has been axed from BikeNZ’s Commonwealth Games squad after being handed a two-year ban for attempting to use prohibited substances. New Zealand’s Sports Tribunal handed down the sentence for Stewart’s attempt to use erythropoietin (EPO) and for possession of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

Sentjens Positive For EPO | Cyclingnews.com

Roy Sentjens of Team Milram tested positive for EPO at an out of competition doping control last month, it was announced Wednesday night. Sentjens was removed from the Vuelta a España and provisionally suspended from racing.

Human chorionic gonadotropin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Human chorionic gonadotropin or human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnancy that is made by the developing embryo after conception and later by the syncytiotrophoblast (part of the placenta).[1] Its role is to prevent the disintegration of the corpus luteum of the ovary and thereby maintain progesterone production that is critical for a pregnancy in humans. hCG may have additional functions; for instance, it is thought that hCG affects the immune tolerance of the pregnancy. Early pregnancy testing, in general, is based on the detection or measurement of hCG. Because hCG is produced also by some kinds of tumor, hCG is an important tumor marker especially (with clinical significance) in Gestational trophoblastic disease,[2] but it is not known whether this production is a contributing cause or an effect of tumorigenesis.

Human chorionic gonadotropin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the world of performance enhancing drugs, hCG is increasingly used in combination with various anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) cycles. As a result, hCG is included in some sports' illegal drug lists.

When AAS are put into a male body, the body's natural negative-feedback loops cause the body to shut down its own production of testosterone via shutdown of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPGA). This causes testicular atrophy, among other things. hCG is commonly used during and after steroid cycles to maintain and restore testicular size as well as normal testosterone production.[19]

High levels of AASs, that mimic the body's natural testosterone, trigger the hypothalamus to shut down its production of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus. Without GnRH, the pituitary gland stops releasing luteinizing hormone (LH). LH normally travels from the pituitary via the blood stream to the testes, where it triggers the production and release of testosterone. Without LH, the testes shut down their production of testosterone.[20] In males, hCG helps restore and maintain testosterone production in the testes by mimicking LH and triggering the production and release of testosterone.