Furazabol (, ) (brand names Frazalon, Miotalon, Qu Zhi Shu), also known as androfurazanol, is a

synthetic Synthetic may refer to: Science * Synthetic biology * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic elements, chemical elements that are not naturally found on Earth and therefore have to be created in ...

, orally active

anabolic-androgenic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...

which has been marketed in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

since 1969. It is a 17α-alkylated

derivative In mathematics, the derivative is a fundamental tool that quantifies the sensitivity to change of a function's output with respect to its input. The derivative of a function of a single variable at a chosen input value, when it exists, is t ...

dihydrotestosterone Dihydrotestosterone (DHT, 5α-dihydrotestosterone, 5α-DHT, androstanolone or stanolone) is an endogenous androgen sex steroid and hormone primarily involved in the growth and repair of the prostate and the penis, as well as the production o ...

(DHT) and is closely related structurally to

stanozolol Stanozolol (Abbreviation, abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is a synthetic androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American ph ...

, differing from it only by having a

furazan Furazan, or 1,2,5-oxadiazole, is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound consisting of a five-atom ring containing 1 oxygen and 2 nitrogen atoms. The furazan ring system is also found in the steroid furazabol. Furazan and its derivatives are ob ...

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

system instead of

pyrazole Pyrazole is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula . It is a heterocycle characterized as an azole with a 5-membered ring of three carbon atoms and two adjacent nitrogen atoms, which are in Arene substitution pattern, ortho-substi ...

. Furazabol has a relatively high ratio of

anabolic Anabolism () is the set of metabolic pathways that construct macromolecules like DNA or RNA from smaller units. These reactions require energy, known also as an endergonic process. Anabolism is the building-up aspect of metabolism, whereas catab ...

androgen An androgen (from Greek ''andr-'', the stem of the word meaning ) is any natural or synthetic steroid hormone that regulates the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates by binding to androgen receptors. This includes ...

ic activity. As with other 17α-alkylated AAS, it may have a risk of

hepatotoxicity Hepatotoxicity (from ''hepatic toxicity'') implies chemical-driven liver damage. Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a cause of acute and chronic liver disease caused specifically by medications and the most common reason for a drug to be withdr ...

. The drug has been described as an antihyperlipidemic and is claimed to be useful in the treatment of

atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis, characterized by development of abnormalities called lesions in walls of arteries. This is a chronic inflammatory disease involving many different cell types and is driven by eleva ...

and

hypercholesterolemia Hypercholesterolemia, also called high cholesterol, is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is a form of hyperlipidemia (high levels of lipids in the blood), hyperlipoproteinemia (high levels of lipoproteins in the blood), ...

, but according to William Llewellyn, such properties of furazabol are a myth.

Doping

Previously a relatively unknown drug to North American athletes, Furazabol gained notoriety in the Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance (known colloquially as the Dubin inquiry). After winning the 100m gold at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for the anabolic steroid

Stanozolol Stanozolol (Abbreviation, abbrev. Stz), sold under many brand names, is a synthetic androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication derived from dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It is used to treat hereditary angioedema. It was developed by American ph ...

, was later stripped of his gold medal, and banned from competition for two years. Johnson initially denied the allegations, asserting he had never taken banned substances. He later claimed the positive finding was the result of sabotage, and that he had actually taken Furazabol, which at the time could not be detected by the

Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Gas is a state of matter that has neither a fixed volume nor a fixed shape and is a compressible fluid. A ''pure gas'' is made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon) or molecules of either a single type of atom ( elements such as ...

assay used to analyze samples at the Games. Contrariwise, Stanozolol had been widely used in elite athlete circles since the 1970s, and as of 1988, could be reliably identified by conventional testing procedures. Testifying before the Dubin Inquiry, Johnson's physician George "Jamie" Astaphan claimed that he had been administering Furazabol (which he termed Estragol) to Johnson since the mid-1980s, and that Johnson likely self-administered Stanozolol within a month of the Games opening in Seoul. In later testimony, Johnson's training mate Angella Issajenko told the Commission that she too had obtained Furazabol from Astaphan, or so she thought. The former-Canadian record holder revealed that, after Johnson's positive test, she had an analysis done on a leftover vial of what she thought contained Furazabol, and was informed it was identified as Stanozolol. Issajenko, and later the Commission's Chief Justice Charles Dubin, concluded Astaphan had been peddling Stanozolol to Johnson, Issajenko, and other Canadian team members all along, and that Furazabol was either a figment of his imagination, or an outright lie.

References

{{Androgen receptor modulators Tertiary alcohols Anabolic–androgenic steroids Androstanes Hepatotoxins Oxadiazoles