Stanozolol

Stanozolol (abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication which was derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It was developed by American pharmaceutical company Winthrop Laboratories (Sterling Drug) in 1962, and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for human use, though it is no longer marketed in the USA. It is also used in veterinary medicine. Stanozolol has mostly been discontinued, and remains available in only a few countries. It is given by mouth in humans or by injection into muscle in animals. Stanozolol (abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication which was derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It was developed by American pharmaceutical company Winthrop Laboratories (Sterling Drug) in 1962, and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for human use, though it is no longer marketed in the USA. It is also used in veterinary medicine. Stanozolol has mostly been discontinued, and remains available in only a few countries. It is given by mouth in humans or by injection into muscle in animals. Unlike most injectable AAS, stanozolol is not esterified and is sold as an aqueous suspension, or in oral tablet form. The drug has a high oral bioavailability, due to a C17α alkylation which allows the hormone to survive first-pass liver metabolism when ingested. It is because of this that stanozolol is also sold in tablet form. Stanozolol is one of the AAS commonly used as performance-enhancing drugs and is banned from use in sports competition under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and many other sporting bodies. Additionally, stanozolol has been used in US horse racing. Stanozol has been used with some success in treated venous insufficiency. It stimulates blood fibrinolysis and has been evaluated for the treatment of the more advanced skin changes in venous disease such as lipodermatosclerosis. Several randomized trials noted improvement in the area of lipodermatosclerosis, reduced skin thickness, and possibly faster ulcer healing rates with stanozolol. It has also been used to successfully treat hereditary angioedema. Stanozolol is used for physique- and performance-enhancing purposes by competitive athletes, bodybuilders, and powerlifters. Side effects of stanozolol include virilization (masculinization), hepatotoxicity, and others. As an AAS, stanozolol is an agonist of the androgen receptor (AR), similarly to androgens like testosterone and DHT. Its affinity for the androgen receptor is about 22% of that of dihydrotestosterone. Stanozolol is not a substrate for 5α-reductase as it is already 5α-reduced, and so is not potentiated in so-called 'androgenic' tissues like the skin, hair follicles, and prostate gland. This results in a greater ratio of anabolic to androgenic activity compared to testosterone. In addition, due to its 5α-reduced nature, stanozolol is non-aromatizable, and hence has no propensity for producing estrogenic effects such as gynecomastia or fluid retention. Stanozolol also does not possess any progestogenic activity of significance. Because of the presence of its 17α-methyl group, the metabolism of stanozolol is sterically hindered, resulting in it being orally active, although also hepatotoxic. Stanozolol has high oral bioavailability, due to the presence of its C17α alkyl group and the resistance to gastrointestinal and liver metabolism that it results in. The medication has very low affinity for human serum sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), about 5% of that of testosterone and 1% of that of DHT. Stanozolol is metabolized in the liver, ultimately becoming glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. Its biological half-life is reported to be 9 hours when taken by mouth and 24 hours when given by intramuscular injection in the form of an aqueous suspension. It is said to have a duration of action of one week or more via intramuscular injection. Stanozolol, also known as 17α-methyl-2'H-androst-2-enopyrazol-17β-ol, is a synthetic 17α-alkylated androstane steroid and a derivative of 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) with a methyl group at the C17α position and a pyrazole ring attached to the A ring of the steroid nucleus.