Natural steroids like testosterone play an important role in human health and disease, and synthetic steroids such as nandrolone increase muscle recovery, strength and size. Designer steroids are a specific type of synthetic steroid; these drugs illicitly enhance athletic performance without easy detection. This phenomena, called doping, has plagued competitive sports like baseball, football and cycling for years. Learning about different kinds of illegal steroids may prevent their future use.
Tetrahydrogestrinone
According to an online article presented in Steroid, Patrick Arnold developed tetrahydrogestrinone with the specific intent of eluding detection in sports-related drug testing. Tetrahydrogestrinone, the active ingredient in a tonic called "The Clear," became the basis of a large-scale illegal doping operation run by BALCO, under supervision of Victor Conte. This company allegedly supplied anabolic steroids to sports stars Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and Marion Jones among others.
Undetectable for years, tests for tetrahydrogestrinone became available only after a tip from a coach whose team was repeatedly beaten by BALCO athletes. Taken orally in small doses, The Clear suppresses endogenous testosterone. A related product, known as "The Cream", complements these small doses when used as an adjunct. Administered transdermally, The Cream contains testosterone which counters suppression by The Clear.
Desoxymethyltestosterone
Patrick Arnold also manufactured the steroid known as desoxymethyltestosterone and supplied it to BALCO. Like The Clear, international superstars used this steroid to enhance their performance for years. Desoxymethyltestosterone, however, was an old drug never brought to market. Patented as Madol, Max Huffman invented this steroid in 1961. A 2007 evaluation in Toxicology Letters shows that Madol acts as an anabolic steroid, increasing weight gain. However, this experiment also reveals side effects like heart and liver damage.
Athletes using desoxymethyltestosterone avoided detection because Madol appears in the medical databases but not on the banned list. This phenomena illustrates a consistent pattern for the makers of designer steroids: find an obscure drug shown effective in the medical literature but never produced for commercial sale, manufacture it illegally and distribute it to world-class athletes desperate to gain a competitive edge.
Norbolethone
Norbolethone was another obscure drug re-discovered by BALCO. A 2002 analysis presented in Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry presents the history of this steroid patented under the trade name Genabol. Developed by Wyeth Laboratories in 1963, norbolethone was used by Leonard LeVann to enhance the height of underdeveloped children in the late 1960s. The controversy surrounding these tests caused Genabol to briefly fade from the scientific literature.
Norbolethone then began showing up in the drug tests of world-class athletes during in the early 2000s. Linked again with Patrick Arnold and Victor Conte, Genabol was the original ingredient in The Clear. Dan Catlin and associates developed a specific assay for norbolethone as described in their 2002 paper written for the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. Genabol thus became the first designer steroid detected by anti-doping tests.
In response, BALCO replaced the norbolethone in The Clear with tetrahydrogestrinone. Catlin and co-workers then developed an assay for the latter steroid. This assay was presented as a 2004 publication in Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. A recurring cycle of illegal use followed by scientific detection appears to continue indefinitely.
References
- "Steroid": Tetrahydrogestrinone, The Clear
- "Toxicology Letters"; Characterisation of the Pharmacological Profile of Desoxymethyltestosterone (Madol), A Steroid Misused for Doping; P. Diel et al.; Feb 28, 2007
- "Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry"; Detection of Norbolethone, An Anabolic Steroid Never Marketed, in Athletes' Urine; D. H. Catlin et al.; 2002
- "Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry"; Tetrahydrogestrinone: Discovery, Synthesis, and Detection in Urine; D. H. Catlin et al.; 2004
