norbolethone why it hasn't made it commercially

[sicosico]

while phs were still legal, great profile:

340% more anabolic than test prop
and only 17% as androgenic
20 on myotropic evaluation

nitrogen retention and body weight effects were favorable = 16.3 times as methyl test

the compound blocks the uterine growth effects of etrone and estriol

reference:
androgens and anabolic agents, J Vida

[Seth Roberts]

Probably because Norbolethone was a deteced as a designer drug already in some athlete's urine and would be on the radar screen. You are right though -- norbolethone should be a good AAS.


Here is an article from the San Jose Mercury news discussing norbolethone as a designer steroid and its connection with THG and a certain chemist -- whose name I have removed as a courtesy.


Posted on Sat, Dec. 06, 2003

Doping grand jury investigating Illinois chemist-bodybuilder

By PETE CAREY

San Jose Mercury News


SAN JOSE, Calif. - The federal grand jury investigation into a Burlingame, Calif., sports nutrition laboratory is asking about (chemist name removed), an Illinois chemist and bodybuilder who introduced androstenedione, the controversial supplement used by the home-run slugger Mark McGwire, to the American market.

More than one witness has been asked about (chemist name removed), 37, who is recognized as the founder of the prohormone industry of sports supplements.

People familiar with the questioning suggest that investigators are seeking a possible source of the designer steroid at the center of a scandal involving the grand jury's target, the sports nutritionist Victor Conte, who owns Balco Laboratories in Burlingame.

Olympic athletes are banned from using prohormones, which can boost levels of the male sex hormone testosterone and increase an athlete's ability to exercise and gain muscle mass. But they can be bought over the counter and have spawned a lucrative industry. Congress is considering a bill that would ban them, and (chemist name removed) is leading the campaign against the effort.

In an interview in which she became the first grand jury witness to talk about her testimony, elite cyclist Tammy Thomas said she was asked about (chemist name removed) and a designer steroid, norbolethone. She was banned from competition for life last year when she tested positive for it. Designer steroids are undetectable in normal testing.

The prosecutors "just wanted to know if I knew him," Thomas said of her testimony Nov. 6. She speculated that they are looking for a clandestine laboratory, the existence of which was postulated in a paper last year by the head of the Olympic anti-doping laboratory at the University of California-Los Angeles, Dr. Don Catlin.

Thomas said she couldn't recall even being asked about THG, or tetrahydrogestrinone, the designer steroid that is at the center of a scandal.

Another source familiar with some of the questioning of athletes by the grand jury confirmed that they had been asked about (chemist name removed).

(chemist name removed) had no comment when contacted this week. In the past he has denied knowing Thomas or ever giving her norbolethone.

Rick Collins, a lawyer who knows (chemist name removed) and has represented people accused of steroid violations and dietary supplement companies, said the grand jury investigation "may be nothing more than a fishing expedition."

Catlin, a molecular pharmacologist at the Olympic Analytical Laboratory at UCLA, discovered a metabolized version of norbolethone in a urine sample from Thomas last year. He also identified THG this summer after a syringe containing traces of the substance was anonymously sent to anti-doping officials.

Five track and field athletes and four NFL players linked to Conte and Balco subsequently tested positive for THG.

The grand jury is investigating evidence the Internal Revenue Service gathered in September searches of Balco's office and the home of trainer Greg Anderson, whose clients include Giants slugger Barry Bonds. Anderson is also a target.

Thomas, who won a silver medal at the 2001 world cycling championships, is the only athlete ever to have tested positive for norbolethone, a steroid discovered and abandoned in the 1970s by Wyeth, a major pharmaceutical firm. She has consistently denied taking it, but lost an appeal before the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in August 2002 and was banned from competition for life.

In 2002 Catlin published a paper describing his detection of norbolethone in two of Thomas' urine samples and noted that since the steroid had never been marketed, "a clandestine source of norbolethone may exist."

"Someone or some organization with synthetic chemical expertise could be preparing norbolethone. While this report does not prove that such a scenario is occuring, it provides strong evidence for it."

In March, the Washington Post reported that the USADA had given federal authorities materials from its investigation of Thomas and that USADA officials believed there may be a connection between norbolethone and (chemist name removed).

(chemist name removed) has denied being the source of the steroid that Catlin says he detected in Thomas' urine sample. A USADA spokesman said Thursday that the organization is no longer commenting on the subject.

Thomas said a friend of hers once dated (chemist name removed), but she never met him and never bought or received anything from him.

The cyclist, who lives in Mississippi, was flown to San Francisco and put up in a hotel by the U.S. Attorney's office. Her testimony lasted about 50 minutes, she said.

"I think they were trying to tie things together, probably to (chemist name removed), or to anybody, to find out does a clandestine lab exist?" Thomas said.

She denied under oath ever taking norbolethone, she said, and she denied knowing (chemist name removed).

"They were probably hoping I would say, `Yeah, I took norbolethone, I got it from this person.' But I didn't have those answers."

Thomas said she has never met Conte, but that he guided her through the appeal of her case. "Somebody put me in touch with Victor," Thomas said. "He basically just coached me through the arbitration process. The prosecutors knew that."

A source familiar with aspects of the proceedings said that investigators may be trying to "move up the chain" to the source of THG.

It is unlikely that Conte was the originator of the drug. Self-taught in inorganic chemistry and minerals, he does not appear to have the skills needed to make complicated organic compounds like steroids.

(chemist name removed) does, which may be one reason witnesses have been quizzed about him.

(chemist name removed) started as a bodybuilder but has become a major supplement maker. He marketed androstenedione, known as Andro. His company, (company name removed), describes itself as "an American prohormone manufacturer and research company."

Andro drew major attention in 1998 when Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals acknowledged he used it. Andro was banned by the Olympics and the NCAA but not by Major League Baseball.

[Lok7y]

Similar dynamic/context for DMT (desoxymethyltestosterone).


Seth you really could have just reproduced that article in full without the redacting of a "a certain chemist's name" (not that it's not insinuated in any event). It's a credible media source, that, evident-bias notwithstanding, does not implicate any sort of character assassination or smear attempt on behalf of its author or poster.

[Seth Roberts]

Similar dynamic/context for DMT (desoxymethyltestosterone).


Seth you really could have just reproduced that article in full without the redacting of a "a certain chemist's name" (not that it's not insinuated in any event). It's a credible media source, that, evident-bias notwithstanding, does not implicate any sort of character assassination or smear attempt on behalf of its author or poster.

Yes, but I did it as a courtesy to the person in question. I am a big fan of "innocent until proven guilty" even though the media believes differently. And the purpose here was to put the emphasis on norbolethone's role.
Seth