Can Anti-Doping Tests Detect Semaglutide?

A new paper describes a urine-testing method for oral semaglutide. The study used ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry, a laboratory technique that separates compounds and identifies them by mass. In one healthy volunteer given an oral microdose, two semaglutide metabolites were detectable in urine for up to 28 hours. The work is about an analytical method, not evidence that an athlete has broken an anti-doping rule.^[1]

What the study tested

Tian and colleagues published the paper online on 2 October 2026 in Drug Testing and Analysis. Their aim was to develop a method for monitoring oral semaglutide through urine, using two metabolites labelled U6 and U7. A metabolite is a compound produced as the body processes a medicine. The authors also examined metabolites of salcaprozate sodium, an absorption enhancer used with oral semaglutide.^[1]

The human part was deliberately small: one healthy volunteer received a 3 mg oral microdose, and the researchers collected 25 urine samples over a week. That design can show whether a method can find a signal after a known exposure. It cannot estimate how often semaglutide is used in sport, how well the method performs across athletes, or how results would behave after different products or dosing histories.^[1]

What the method found in urine

The paper reports a limit of detection of 0.03 ng/mL for U6 and U7, with a stated linear range of 0.1 to 20 ng/mL. In the single-volunteer excretion profile, both metabolites first appeared at 21 hours. The reported peak concentrations were 0.15 ng/mL for U6 and 0.10 ng/mL for U7, and both remained detectable for up to 28 hours.^[1]

Those figures describe this method under this study's conditions. They are not a promise that a urine sample will give a clear answer at a particular time after use. The authors also identified five abundant metabolites of salcaprozate sodium and reported a detection window of up to seven days for those compounds. They describe those metabolites as sensitive screening indicators for oral semaglutide.^[1]

Method development mattered as much as finding the metabolites. The authors report recovery above 90% after optimising three parts of sample preparation: the adsorbent, the loading pH, and the washing solvent. An adsorbent is the material used to capture target compounds from a sample before analysis. They attribute the enrichment chiefly to hydrophobic interactions, meaning the tendency of less water-friendly parts of molecules to associate during the preparation step. That detail helps explain why the paper is a laboratory-method report, rather than a clinical or sporting outcome study.^[1]

Why oral semaglutide is the focus

This study concerns an oral formulation, rather than the injectable forms that many readers associate with semaglutide. In the European Union, Rybelsus is an authorised medicine containing semaglutide for adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes, used alongside diet and exercise. The EMA lists semaglutide as its active substance.^[2] The new paper says the oral formulation's convenience may create interest in weight-class sport, but that statement is the authors' rationale for developing a test, not evidence of a measured pattern of athlete use.^[1]

For readers trying to separate product facts from testing research, the useful starting point is the semaglutide medicine page. Its regulation section covers the prescription status by country. The analytical paper adds a narrower point: laboratories now have a described urine method for looking for markers linked to oral semaglutide exposure.^[1]

What this study does not establish

A detection method and an anti-doping decision are different questions. This paper does not report a prevalence survey, a competition-testing programme, a rule interpretation, or a sanction. It also does not compare samples from a range of oral doses, repeated use, injectable semaglutide, or multiple participants. The authors present the work as the first perspective on the urinary excretion profile of oral semaglutide, which is a useful beginning but still a narrow evidence base.^[1]

The short metabolite window in this report also should not be turned into personal advice about testing or timing. Anti-doping rules, sample collection, laboratory procedures, and an individual's circumstances are separate matters. Anyone subject to a testing programme needs to check the current rules with the relevant anti-doping organisation and discuss prescribed medicines with a qualified clinician.

Why the paper is worth reading

Here, the value is technical rather than sensational. Researchers give other laboratories a defined way to look for U6, U7, and salcaprozate sodium metabolites in urine after oral semaglutide exposure. Its limits are equally clear: one volunteer, one microdose, and an early publication ahead of wider validation. That is the right frame for this paper and for any claims made from it.^[1]

If you are reading about semaglutide in a sporting context, keep the medical and regulatory questions separate from the laboratory question. Start with semaglutide regulation by country, then verify the current requirements that apply to your sport. This study supplies a testing-method result, not a shortcut around those requirements.^[1]