Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are misused to a high extent in sports by athletes to improve their physical performance. Sports federations consider the use of these drugs in sports as doping. The misuse of AAS is controlled by detection of the parent AAS (when excreted into urine) and (or) their metabolites in urine of athletes. I present a review of the metabolism of AAS. Testosterone is the principal androgenic steroid and its metabolism is compared with that of AAS. The review is divided into two parts: the general metabolism of AAS, which is separated into phase I and phase II metabolism and includes a systematic discussion of metabolic changes in the steroid molecule according to the regions (A-D rings), and the specific metabolism of AAS, which presents the metabolism of 26 AAS in humans.

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Metabolism of anabolic androgenic steroids.

Since 1999 several groups have analyzed nutritional supplements with mass spectrometric methods (GC/MS, LC/MS/MS) for contaminations and adulterations with doping substances. These investigations showed that nutritional supplements contained prohibited stimulants as ephedrines, caffeine, methylenedioxymetamphetamie and sibutramine, which were not declared on the labels. An international study performed in 2001 and 2002 on 634 nutritional supplements that were purchased in 13 different countries showed that about 15% of the nonhormonal nutritional supplements were contaminated with anabolic-androgenic steroids (mainly prohormones). Since 2002, also products intentionally faked with high amounts of 'classic' anabolic steroids such as metandienone, stanozolol, boldenone, dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone, oxandrolone etc. have been detected on the nutritional supplement market. These anabolic steroids were not declared on the labels either. The sources of these anabolic steroids are probably Chinese pharmaceutical companies, which sell bulk material of anabolic steroids. In 2005 vitamin C, multivitamin and magnesium tablets were confiscated, which contained cross-contaminations of stanozolol and metandienone. Since 2002 new 'designer' steroids such as prostanozol, methasterone, androstatrienedione etc. have been offered on the nutritional supplement market. In the near future also cross-contaminations with these steroids are expected. Recently a nutritional supplement for weight loss was found to contain the beta2-agonist clenbuterol. The application of such nutritional supplements is connected with a high risk of inadvertent doping cases and a health risk. For the detection of new 'designer' steroids in nutritional supplements, mass spectrometric strategies (GC/MS, LC/MS/MS) are presented.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jms.1452

Nutritional supplements cross-contaminated and faked with doping substances

Metabolism of anabolic steroids in man: synthesis and use of reference substances for identification of anabolic steroid metabolites

Derivatization procedures for gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric determination of xenobiotics in biological samples, with special attention to drugs of abuse and doping agents.

Testing for natural and synthetic anabolic agents in human urine

17-Epimerization of 17α-methyl anabolic steroids in humans: metabolism and synthesis of 17α-hydroxy-17β-methyl steroids

Metabolism of anabolic steroids in humans: Synthesis of 6β-hydroxy metabolites of 4-chloro-1,2-dehydro-17α-methyltestosterone, fluoxymesterone, and metandienone

Willi Schänzer

Papers

Metabolism of anabolic steroids in man: synthesis and use of reference substances for identification of anabolic steroid metabolites

17-Epimerization of 17α-methyl anabolic steroids in humans: metabolism and synthesis of 17α-hydroxy-17β-methyl steroids

Metabolism of anabolic steroids in humans: Synthesis of 6β-hydroxy metabolites of 4-chloro-1,2-dehydro-17α-methyltestosterone, fluoxymesterone, and metandienone