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Introduction

Drostanolone is the generic chemical name for the anabolic steroid known commonly as Masteron. Drostanolone is an oil-based injectable and belongs to the family of dihydroteststerone derivatives (DHT derivatives). This is to say that Masteron is one of the many anabolic steroids that is actually a modified analogue of Dihydrotestosterone. In other words, Masteron’s parent hormone is Dihydrotestosterone. All synthetic anabolic steroid analogues are in one way or another modifications of three anabolic steroids that are naturally and endogenously manufactured in the body: Testosterone, Nandrolone, and Dihydrotestosterone. Masteron happens to be an analogue of Dihydrotestosterone, and other anabolic steroids that belong to the family of DHT derivatives includes anabolic steroids such as Winstrol (Stanozolol), Anadrol (Oxymetholone), Anavar, (Oxandrolone), Primobolan (Methenolone) and many others. Masteron itself is regarded as being a fairly weak anabolic steroid in regards to its muscle building, strength gaining, and overall anabolic effects. In bio assays, its anabolic:androgenic ratio was determined to be that of 62 – 130:25 – 40. Testosterone’s anabolic:androgenic ratio in comparison is 100:100, which should easily demonstrate the outstanding difference in the properties and capabilities of the two. It is important to use Testosterone as the base measuring standard due to the fact that because Testosterone is quite literally the father of all anabolic steroids, it is the one anabolic steroid that is utilized as the measuring bar by which all other anabolic steroids are measured against and compared with.

Winstrol SaleDrostanolone was first officially created and announced in 1959 by Syntex. Syntex was a very popular name in the pharmaceutical industry when it came to the development of the many different anabolic steroids that are known and used today. Some popular anabolic steroids that were developed by Syntex included Anadrol (Oxymetholone), and Superdrol (Methyldrostanolone). Although Drostanolone was officially created in 1959, it was not released onto the prescription drug market until 10 years later under the trade and brand name known as Masteron. Lilly, another very well-known pharmaceutical company had worked very closely with Syntex in the manufacture and sale of all kinds of pharmaceutical drugs. Both of these companies had an agreement with each other to share and exchange research and development plans, resources, as well as costs. The flip-side to this agreement would be that only one of these pharmaceutical companies would hold the rights to the drug. When it came to Masteron, Lilly was the company that sold it on the American prescription drug market under a different name, known as Drolban. However, Syntex also alternatively marketed the drug on the prescription drug market, only internationally outside of the United States. In a nutshell, Lilly would be in charge of the marketing of Masteron (under the name Drolban) in the United States, while Syntex would oversee the marketing of Masteron internationally.

Masteron’s clinical and medical use was determined to be primarily for the treatment of female breast cancer, often as one of the last resort treatment options after other first and second line treatments have failed. Upon its release onto the prescription drug market, the FDA approved its use for this purpose, and Masteron was very suitable for this purpose. Because it possessed a much lower androgenic rating than Testosterone, it would for the most part be more tolerable for female use due to the lower potential for virilization to occur (although this would still be a risk). At the time of its release, this was a novel advantage, as not many other anabolic steroids were yet developed with very low androgenic strength ratings that would be exceptional in the treatment of breast cancer in female patients, typically a patient group that does not tend to respond very favorably to anabolic steroid therapies due to the inherent risk of virilization due to androgenic effects. Testosterone Propionate, which at the time was used commonly in the same third-line treatment of female breast cancer, was compared with Masteron even in the prescription pamphlet and information for Masteron where it stated that the probability of developing virilization symptoms with Masteron was far less when compared with equal Testosterone Propionate dosages. There was one problem upon the early use of Masteron for female breast cancer patients, however. That was the issue of an initial prescription dose of 300mg/week of Masteron, which was too high for females and resulted in virilization symptoms developing among many female patients. The long term administration of Masteron also resulted in increased virilization development. The two primary factors contributing to virilization are dose and duration of use, both of which when too high and/or for too long will result in increased virilization symptoms in females, which was something seemingly overseen by medical professionals at the time.

When it comes to Masteron’s use in bodybuilding athletics, it was not until the 1970s that its use began and spread into the 1980s. Breast cancer treatments and drugs that proved to be far more effective with no risk of virilization were eventually developed and approved, which resulted in Masteron slowly losing its place as a drug in the treatment of breast cancer. Because of this, the manufacture and sale of Masteron went on the decline. Drolban production was discontinued in the late 1980s, and other brands of Masteron were discontinued also. Although Masteron still remains on the list of approved medications, it is not currently in production and nor is it being sold on the American prescription market.

Drostanolone is a modified form of DHT, with an added methyl group onto carbon number two. This addition is what is known for increasing its anabolic strength due to the fact that without this addition, Dihydrotestosterone is effectively reduced into an inactive metabolite in muscle tissue by the enzyme 3-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. This modification on Masteron allows it to avoid interaction with this enzyme in muscle tissue, making it very anabolic where DHT would normally never have the capability to be. There are two main variants of Masteron: Drostanolone Propionate, which is the original preparation that was manufactured and marketed by Syntex and Lilly, and then there is Drostanolone Enanthate. The Enanthate variant is a much longer acting format of Masteron, and was not originally manufactured in the pharmaceutical industry. It is instead, for the most part, an underground formulation of Drostanolone. The addition of the esters to the Drostanolone molecule alter its half-life in the body. For example, Drostanolone Propionate will exhibit a half-life of 4.5 days, while Drostanolone Enanthate exhibits a half-life of 7 – 10 days. These esters are attached by way of ester bonding onto the 17-beta hydroxyl group on the steroid structure, and some of these esters happen to be shorter than others, while some are longer than others in their structure. The longer the ester is, the longer the half-life of the compound is extended. The shorter it is, the shorter the half-life of the anabolic steroid. This is because the body’s enzymes must work to remove the ester from the anabolic steroid, and only once this has completed, will there be the pure anabolic steroid free to do its work in the body. Until this is complete, the anabolic steroid (while esterified) is not biologically active in the body.

Because Masteron is a DHT derivative, it shares very similar characteristics with its parent hormone. It is therefore unable to interact with the aromatase enzyme, and therefore no aromatization (conversion into Estrogen) results. Therefore, Masteron should not convert into Estrogen at any dose, and it will not carry with it the typical Estrogen-related side effects such as bloating, gynecomastia, water retention, or fat gain and/or retention. Although Masteron is not very strong in terms of anabolic effects, it serves as a very useful compound for those competitive bodybuilders who need to step on stage due to the fact that not only does it avoid aromatization completely, but it exhibits a moderate degree of aromatase inhibition, which will actively reduce blood plasma levels of Estrogen in the body. What results with the use of Masteron, therefore, is a change of look to the physique where a hard, ‘ripped’, and ‘chiseled’ physique results. However, a low enough body fat percentage must be obtained before this can be experienced, which is why Masteron serves as an excellent pre-contest and/or cutting anabolic steroid. This anti-estrogenic effect of Masteron is the literal reason as to why it was utilized as an advanced breast cancer drug in females.