ReviewSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2007
Do inhaled beta(2)-agonists have an ergogenic potential in non-asthmatic competitive athletes?
Review in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02914652 (The Cardiopulmonary Effect of Inhaled Beta-2-agonists on Adult Ventrucular Septal Defect Patients With Persistant or Surgically Corrected Conditions - The VENTI Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 17 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Cardiopulmonary Effect of Inhaled Beta-2-agonists on Adult Ventrucular Septal Defect Patients With Persistant or Surgically Corrected Conditions - The VENTI Trial
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Salbutamol in 5q spinal muscular atrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy and safety.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Pooled it
- Drug treatment for spinal muscular atrophy types II and III.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- The impact of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction on athletic performance: a systematic review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2014Pooled it
- β₂-Agonists and physical performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2011Pooled it
- High-dose inhaled terbutaline increases muscle strength and enhances maximal sprint performance in trained men.European journal of applied physiology · 2014Trial
- Acute supra-therapeutic oral terbutaline administration has no ergogenic effect in non-asthmatic athletes.European journal of applied physiology · 2013Trial
- Effects of β2-adrenergic stimulation on exercise capacity in normal subjects.European journal of applied physiology · 2011Trial
- Performance-enhancing substances in sport: A scientometric review of 75 years of research.Drug testing and analysis · 2025Review
- Effects of Terbutaline Sulfate on Physiological and Biomechanical as Well as Perceived Exertion in Healthy Active Athletes: A Pilot Study.Journal of human kinetics · 2019Article
- Anti-doping Policy, Therapeutic Use Exemption and Medication Use in Athletes with Asthma: A Narrative Review and Critical Appraisal of Current Regulations.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2019Review
- Exercise performance after salbutamol inhalation in non-asthmatic, non-athlete individuals: a randomised, controlled, cross-over trial.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2018Article
- The World Anti-Doping Code: can you have asthma and still be an elite athlete?Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2016Review
- Physicians' Ethical Dilemmas in the Context of Anti-Doping Practices.Annals of sports medicine and research · 2016Article
- Drug abuse in athletes.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2014Review
- Generic sample preparation combined with high-resolution liquid chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry for unification of urine screening in doping-control laboratories.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2010Article
- Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction: The effects of montelukast, a leukotriene receptor antagonist.Therapeutics and clinical risk management · 2009Article
- Use of prescription drugs in athletes.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2008Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The prevalence of asthma is higher in elite athletes than in the general population. The risk of developing asthmatic symptoms is the highest in endurance athletes and swimmers. Asthma seems particularly widespread in winter-sport athletes such as cross-country skiers. Asthmatic athletes commonly use inhaled beta(2)-agonists to prevent and treat asthmatic symptoms. However, beta(2)-agonists are prohibited according to the Prohibited List of the World Anti-Doping Agency. An exception can be made only for the substances formoterol, salbutamol, salmeterol and terbutaline by inhalation, as long as a therapeutic use exemption has been applied for and granted. In this context, the question arises of whether beta(2)-agonists have ergogenic benefits justifying the prohibition of these substances. In 17 of 19 randomised placebo-controlled trials in non-asthmatic competitive athletes, performance-enhancing effects of the inhaled beta(2)-agonists formoterol, salbutamol, salmeterol and terbutaline could not be proved. This is particularly true for endurance performance, anaerobic power and strength performance. In three of four studies, even supratherapeutic doses of salbutamol (800-1200 microg) had no ergogenic effect. In contrast to inhaled beta(2)-agonists, oral administration of salbutamol seems to be able to improve the muscle strength and the endurance performance. There appears to be no justification to prohibit inhaled beta(2)-agonists from the point of view of the ergogenic effects.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.