Stenbolone (Anatrofin)

Detailed overview

Stenbolone (2-methyl-5-alpha-androst-1-en-17-beta-ol-3-one) is a DHT-derived anabolic androgenic steroid marketed in the 1960s as Anatrofin, usually as the acetate ester for injection. It disappeared from the pharmaceutical market long ago. The most important thing to clarify: stenbolone is NOT the same as methylstenbolone. The latter is a 17-alpha-methylated oral designer steroid that featured in the supplement scandals of the 2010s and has its own page in this library. The similarity of the names causes frequent confusion, yet the structure, the route and the hepatic risk all differ. The available literature on stenbolone is narrow and characteristic: Goudreault 1991 identified its urinary metabolites by mass spectrometry, Yu 2005 developed a method for horse-racing doping screens, and Villanueva Gasca 1969 is a period study of ovarian physiology. That list alone says something: the compound is studied today mainly so it can be detected, not so it can be used. There is no modern controlled human efficacy study. Pharmacologically, as a DHT derivative it does not aromatize, so it causes no estrogen-driven effects, but androgenic effects such as acne and accelerated hair loss can be pronounced. As an injectable ester it bypasses hepatic first-pass metabolism, so the liver injury characteristic of 17-alpha-alkylated oral steroids does not apply. HPTA suppression, however, applies to every androgen, as discussed in the Rahnema 2014 review.