METABOLISM OF ANABOLIC-ANDROGENIC STEROIDS

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are misused to a high extent in spo rts by athletes to improve their physical performance. Sports federati ons 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 re view of the metabolism of AAS. Testosterone is the principal androgeni c steroid and its metabolism is compared with that of AAS. The review is divided into two parts: the general metabolism of AAS, which is sep arated into phase I and phase II metabolism and includes a systematic discussion of metabolic changes in the steriod molecule according to t he regions (A-D rings), and the specific metabolism of AAS, which pres ents the metabolism of 26 AAS in humans.