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Tetrahydrogestrinone (often referred to as
THG or the "Clear") is a potent anabolic and
progestagenic androgenic steroid that is
chemically and structurally related to two other
synthetic anabolic steroids, gestrinone and
trenbolone (1). The "designer steroid" was derived by simple
chemical modification of another anabolic
steroid that is explicitly banned by the the
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Chemist Patrick Arnold, the "father of prohormones"
in the U.S. sports nutrition market, is credited
with the creating THG via the catalytic
hydrogenation of gestrinone to evade detection. Patrick Arnold along with
Victor Conte of the Bay Area Laboratory
Co-operative (BALCO) were identified as the
source of THG which was distributed to several
top athletics in various sports in the American
and European athletic scenes. Unlike other
anabolic-androgenic steroids used illicitly by
competitive athletes, which were pharmaceuticals
intended for veterinarian or human use, THG had
never been approved for any medical indication
nor introduced into commerce.
THG remained
undetectable by sport doping control
urine tests for
several years.
This changed in the summer of 2003
when Don Catlin director of the IOC/WADA
accredited laboratory in Los Angeles
was mailed a sample of a
substance by an anonymous track
coach (later identified as Trevor
Graham) that enabled the structure
of THG to be determined and a
detection methodology to be
developed (2). THG has since been prohibited
both in and out of competition under
the World Anti-Doping Code. The protocol for THG detection
is used by IOC / WADA
accredited laboratories throughout
the world for sample analysis.
The use of tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) by
several elite athletes led the US Congress to
add it to the
Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 as a "Schedule
III" controlled
substance. THG, although pharmacologically
defined as an anabolic-androgenic steroid, was
legally defined as an "unapproved new drug"
during its role in the BALCO scandal.
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|
| Trivial
Name |
Tetrahydrogestrinone;
THG |
| Chemical
Name |
18a-homo-pregna-4,9,11-trien-17β-ol-3-one |
|
Systematic
Name |
(13S,17S)-13,17-diethyl-17-hydroxy-1,2,6,7,8,13,14,15,16,17-decahydrocyclopenta[a]phenanthren-3-one |
| Index
Name |
13β-17α-Diethyl-17β-hydroxygon-4,9,11-trien-3-one |
| CAS Number |
618903-56-3 |
| Chemical
Formula |
C21-H28-O2 |
| Molecular
Weight |
312.46 |
|
Excretion |
Urinary |
| Legal Status |
Illegal
(US); DEA Schedule III (US) |
| Route of
Administration |
Oral, Intramuscular |
References
- Death AK, McGrath KC, Kazlauskas R,
Handelsman DJ. Tetrahydrogestrinone is a
potent androgen and progestin. J Clin
Endocrinol Metab. 2004 May;89(5):2498-500
- Catlin D. H., Sekera M. H., Ahrens B.
D., Starcevic B., Chang Y. C., Hatton C. K.
Tetrahydrogestrinone: discovery, synthesis,
and detection in urine. Rapid Commun Mass
Spectrom. 2004;18:1245–049.
- Yu-Chen Chang; Borislav Starcevic; Brian
D. Ahrens; M. Jane Strouse; Don H. Catlin.
Identification of a Urinary Metabolite of
the Designer Steroid Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG).
Drug Metab: Toxicology.
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