Mapping of the Pharmacological Effect of Prohibited Substances and Methods to Athletic Physiological Characteristics

This study presents a novel physio-pharmacological framework for assessing the potential performance-enhancing effects of substances and methods included in the 2022 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List across 160 Olympic sport disciplines. An expert panel evaluated 31 consolidated pharmacological categories for their capacity to enhance performance across six core physiological athletic demands. Using a calibrated scoring function and bilinear interpolation, we mapped these effects to each sport's dominant physiological profile. Findings confirmed the well-known ergogenic effects of anabolic agents and erythropoietins for power and endurance-based sports, respectively, including the general ergolytic effects of narcotics and cannabinoids. Moreover, the methodology can be used to evaluate any new sport or substance given their respective physiological demands. The study underscores the need for targeted anti-doping strategies, suggesting that risk assessment and test distribution planning should be aligned with sport-specific physiological demands and the relative performance advantages conferred by different doping strategies. This summary of the current physiological knowledge and pharmacological knowledge has the potential to enhance detection efficiency, optimize resource allocation, and refine prohibited substance screening in elite sport.