Nandrolone

From ArticleWorld

Anabolic steroids increase the proportion of protein laid down muscle tissue and stimulate bone growth. They also stimulate the production of red blood corpuscles which in turn enhance the oxygen supply to the muscles. They can be dangerous, especially to children and adolescents, and even for healthy adults they have some undesirable side effects - lowered fertility but raised sex drive, shrinking testicles, raised blood pressure, headaches, nausea and a range of psychological symptoms including impulsive aggression and emotional instability.

An anabolic steroid which pumps up muscle bulk is nandrolone. Bodybuilders use it to achieve dramatic muscle definition, while power lifters use it to get their biceps to a maximum bulk. All anabolic steroids have a role to play in producing testosterone, the natural hormone that produces spurts of growth at puberty. Testosterone is also linked with aggression, another useful quality for competitors.

Nandrolone is most commonly sold commercially as its decanoate ester (Deca-Durabolin) and less commonly as a phenylpropionate ester (Durabolin). Nandrolone use is indirectly detectable in urine tests by testing for the presence of 19-norandrosterone, a metabolism product of this molecule. The International Olympic Committee has set a limit of 2 ng per ml of urine as the upper limit, beyond which an athlete is suspected of doping.

Urine analysis as a method of detecting nandrolone abuse has recently become somewhat controversial, following studies by the University of Aberdeen showing that the metabolite product can also show up in urine in quantities above the upper limit from a combination of high-protein diets utilising the legal nutritional supplement creatine and hard cardiovascular exercise. The reason for this unexpected result has not been determined. Another possible (though unlikely) reason for a false positive result is the consumption of beef from cattle treated with steroids including nandrolone (used in overturning the verdict against the bobsleigh racer, Lenny Paul). A final possible cause of incorrect urine test results is the prescence of metabolites from other anabolic steroids. However, as all such substances are also banned, this source is somewhat insignificant when interpreting the results of such a test. As a result of the numerous overturned verdicts, the testing procedure was reviewed by UK Sport in 2000.

Nandrolone binds to the androgen receptor to a greater degree than testosterone, but due to its inability to act on the muscle in ways unmediated by the receptor, has less overall effect on muscle growth. The drug is also unusual in that unlike most anabolic steroids, it is not broken down into the more reactive DHT by the enzyme 5α-reductase, but rather into a less effective product. As such, some of the negative effects associated with most such drugs are somewhat mitigated.

The positive effects of the drug include muscle growth, appetite stimulation and increased red blood cell production and bone density. Clinical studies have shown it to be effective in treating anaemia, osteoporosis and some forms of neoplasia including breast cancer, and also acts as a progestin-based contraceptive. For these reasons, nandrolone received FDA approval in 1983, and while sale is now restricted by the Controlled Substances Act, it remains available by prescription in most countries. In addition to legal production, Nandrolone is also extensively produced and used illegally by athletes and bodybuilders seeking an edge in professional competition.

Because nandrolone is not broken down into DHT, the deleterious effects common to most anabolic steroids on the scalp, skin, and prostate are lessened to a degree. The lack of alkylation on the 17α-carbon drastically reduces the drug's liver toxicity. Estrogenic effects resulting from reaction with aromatase are also mitigated as a result of the drug being a progestin, but effects such as gynaecomastia and reduced libido still occur in larger doses. Other side-effects can include erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular damage, as well as several ailments resulting from the drug's effect of lowering levels of luteinizing hormone through negative feedback. Nandrolone has been used by doctors to treat various medical conditions such as cancer and blood disorders since the 1960s, but it is only in the last few years, because of its impact on athletes, that it has come under public scrutiny. For sports people, nandrolone can help recovery from injury by allowing them to train harder and improve their muscle development while allowing wasted muscles to rebuild at a quicker rate.

Any athlete with two or more nanograms per milli-litre of nandrolone has failed a drugs test. Greg Rusedski's first sample showed him to have 5.5 nanograms per millilitre and his second had five. Each preparation of the drug possesses individual chemical features that allow it to be identified during testing, giving it a unique "fingerprint". Much of Rusedski's case rests on him proving that his positive test contained the same fingerprint as 43 previous elevated or positive tests the ATP had carried out, but which ultimately saw no disciplinary charges being upheld against any player.

The ATP confirmed that all the tests, including Rusedski's, do indeed suggest "a common source of nandrolone contamination" - adding that "the ATP is continuing its efforts to warn players regarding the risk of contamination of health products, and the players' responsibilities under the rules of the sport for the presence of any prohibited substances in their bodies."

In the case of the seven positive tests, the ATP admitted it was at fault as a result of its trainers providing contaminated supplements or drinks to players during tournaments. One of the grey areas surrounding nandrolone is that nobody is quite clear how long it stays in the body, a factor which could also be important in the Rusedski case. The ATP said its trainers stopped providing tainted supplements last May, and Rusedski's sample was provided on July 23.

Even though a drug test may indicate that the subject has apparently taken nandrolone to boost muscle growth and increase strength, this does not necessarily prove wrongdoing. It is possible that the body may naturally create a form of nandrolone, particularly if the subject has eaten large quantities of meat contaminated with the substance. It is also possible that dietary supplements taken perfectly legally by some athletes are broken down by the body to produce the same substances created when nandrolone is broken down.

Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid that has recently caused a great deal of controversy after a number of big name athletes have been banned from competition after failing tests for this drug. These include Linford Christie, Mark Richardson and Dougie Walker (all well known British sprinters), Merlene Ottey (the Jamaican former 200 m world champion), and Dieter Baumann (the German 500 m runner). After protesting their innocence, all were subsequently cleared by their national athletics organisations, although the International Amateur Athletics Federation fueled the controversy further by overturning the reinstatement of Christie and Walker. As well as athletes, French soccer star Christophe Dugarry tested positive for nandrolone after a match last year, and following a Wimbledon quarter final in 1998 Czech tennis player Petr Korda also failed a test. But the fact that so many sportsmen have tested positive for the same substance in such a short space of time has led to speculation that the testing procedure may be flawed, or inaccurate.

So, if the tests are flawed, what could be going wrong? Many excuses have been put forward to suggest why nandrolone is present in much higher concentrations than it should be. Bobsleigh racer Lenny Paul said that his positive test was due to eating a plate of spaghetti bolognese which contained beef from cattle that had been fed steroids. Although the UK Sport Nandrolone Review Group said that there was only a 'remote' possibility of meat consumption leading to a positive test, the athlete was cleared by his sporting body.

Another possible explanation, often cited by athletes caught with positive tests, is that the nandrolone in their system arose from the use of protein milkshakes and the amino acid creatine, which are perfectly legal and used as dietary supplements to increase weight. But it is difficult to see how nandrolone could be produced from the benign components of these substances, unless they had been accidentally or deliberately contaminated. Subsequent testing, however, ruled out any deliberate contamination.

A much more likely theory has recently emerged from the results of a preliminary investigation at Aberdeen University. The findings are that dietary supplements themselves are harmless and produce no increased levels of nandrolone. Exercise alone, too, doesn't cause any problems. But a combination of both dietary supplements (none of which contain a banned substance) and exercise, can result in a positive nandrolone test. The reason for this is still unclear, but one theory is that there is a link between heavy training, the dehydration that goes with it, and their effects upon the components of high protein diets. Until more work is done, however, the 'nandrolone mystery' goes on...