Orally administered salbutamol, a wellknown ß2-adrenergic agonist, has not been investigated in highly trained endurance athletes, even though it is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency due to a likely ergogenic effect. Seven healthy, elite endurance trained male athletes were included. Following a day of preliminary tests, the athletes received either 4 mg orally administered salbutamol or placebo in a double-blind, randomized, cross-over design. Initially, a maximal oxygen consumption test was performed, followed by a constant-load test until exhaustion on treadmill. Heart rate and SaO2 were recorded during the performance tests, and respiratory values and venous blood samples were collected immediately after termination. After administration of salbutamol, arterial saturation levels (6.0%, P = 0.15) as well as the time to exhaustion (14.9%, Cohen's d = 0.41, > ½ the CV of the test) were increased during the constant-load test. There were no statistically significant changes in VO2max, other respiratory values, heart rate or plasma lactate concentrations. In conclusion, after administering a single oral therapeutic dose of the ß2-adrenergic agonist salbutamol to healthy, elite endurance trained male athletes, acute ergogenic effects were demonstrated in terms of a reduced extent of exercise induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH), as well as an improvement in time to exhaustion during a constant-load test, which indicated a meaningful performance-enhancing effect in a race situation. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR
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