D tier · weak
It has no approved medical indication in the US, its approval was revoked in 1985, and essentially no modern controlled efficacy evidence exists — while the single best-quantified human dataset attached to it is a prospective study showing aminotransferase elevation in 27% of users.
metandienone
Metandienone is a 17α-alkylated testosterone derivative withdrawn from the US market in the 1980s with no surviving approved indication. The most specific human data attached to it in the regulatory literature concerns hepatic injury rather than benefit, with NIH LiverTox citing aminotransferase elevation in 27% of users in a prospective study.
the explanation
Metandienone, sold historically as Dianabol, is an oral steroid that US regulators removed from the market in the 1980s, and it has no approved medical use there today. The clearest human data on it measures liver damage, not benefit — in one study more than a quarter of users showed raised liver enzymes.
regulatory status
US Schedule III controlled substance; UK Class C (Misuse of Drugs Act). NO approved US medical indication.
Metandienone is Schedule III under the US Controlled Substances Act and Class C under the UK Misuse of Drugs Act. CIBA withdrew Dianabol from the US market in 1983 and generic production ceased when the FDA revoked approval in 1985; the compound has since been discontinued and withdrawn in most countries. It therefore retains NO approved medical indication in the US or UK, although reference sources note continued production and medical use in some other jurisdictions. It is prohibited at all times in sport under the WADA List.
how it works · proposed mechanism
Metandienone is an orally active androgen receptor agonist that additionally undergoes aromatisation to an oestrogenic metabolite.
Androgen receptor agonism
Binding of metandienone to the androgen receptor drives transcriptional programmes increasing muscle protein synthesis and nitrogen retention. Unlike DHT-derived agents it retains the Δ4-3-ketone configuration characteristic of testosterone.
Aromatisation to methylestradiol
The intact A-ring permits aromatase to convert metandienone to 17α-methylestradiol, a potent oestrogen. This accounts for the fluid retention and gynaecomastia historically characteristic of the compound and distinguishes it from stanozolol and oxandrolone.
17α-alkylation and hepatic exposure
The 17α-methyl group blocks hepatic inactivation and enables oral dosing, at the cost of prolonged high-concentration hepatocyte exposure. LiverTox records aminotransferase elevation in 27% of metandienone users in a prospective study.
what’s reported
evidence shape
5 sourcesThe composition of the cited literature by study type. This describes the shape of the evidence, not its quality — and it does not by itself set the grade.
⚠ the catch
There is no contemporary controlled efficacy evidence for this compound in any clinical indication, because it was removed from legitimate medicine four decades ago and research effectively stopped. What data does exist in the modern literature is overwhelmingly toxicological and anti-doping analytical work, so the evidence base characterises harm and detection far better than it characterises benefit.
key published findings
- Human prospective study (via NIH LiverTox): aminotransferase elevations occurred in 27% of methandienone users, and bromsulfophthalein retention was seen in 62% without symptoms — indicating frequent subclinical hepatic dysfunction.
- Human (NIH LiverTox): among actively using bodybuilders, mean ALT reached approximately 57 U/L compared with 19 U/L in never-users.
- Human (NIH LiverTox): cholestasis has not been described with unmodified testosterone but occurs in ~1% of patients on 17α-alkylated androgens, establishing the alkyl group rather than androgenicity as the causal structural feature.
- Human observational (Baggish, Circulation 2017, n=140 weightlifters): AAS users showed LVEF 52±11% vs 63±8% in non-users (p<0.001) and greater coronary plaque volume (p=0.012), with burden rising 0.60 SD units per 10 years of cumulative use (p=0.008).
- Regulatory (FDA): US approval revoked in 1985 following CIBA's 1983 market withdrawal, with no subsequent approved indication.
limitations of the evidence
- No modern randomized controlled trials exist for any clinical indication, so no efficacy effect size can be reported.
- Human hepatic data derive largely from observational cohorts of self-administering users with unverified exposure and frequent concurrent use of other agents, limiting causal attribution to metandienone specifically.
- Historical trial literature predates modern reporting standards and is not retrievable in a form permitting quantitative synthesis.
documented safety signals
- HEPATOTOXICITY — QUANTIFIED: NIH LiverTox cites a prospective study in which 27% of metandienone users developed aminotransferase elevations, with 62% showing bromsulfophthalein retention without symptoms.
- CHOLESTATIC JAUNDICE: dose-related acute cholestasis occurs in approximately 1% of patients on 17α-alkylated androgens, onset typically 1-4 months, with delayed onset documented to 6-24 months.
- PELIOSIS HEPATIS: blood-filled hepatic sinusoidal cysts documented at 2-27 months of therapy, potentially fatal through hepatic rupture and haemorrhage.
- HEPATIC ADENOMA AND HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA: associated with long-term androgen use, typically arising after 5-15 years but with documented cases within 2 years.
- ADVERSE LIPID EFFECTS: oral 17α-alkylated androgens markedly suppress HDL cholesterol and raise LDL through induction of hepatic triglyceride lipase — a class effect absent with parenteral testosterone.
- CARDIOMYOPATHY AND ATHEROSCLEROSIS: Baggish et al. (Circulation 2017) documented reduced LVEF (52±11% vs 63±8%, p<0.001), impaired diastolic relaxation velocity (9.3±2.4 vs 11.1±2.0 cm/s, p<0.001), and dose-dependent coronary atherosclerosis in long-term users.
- OESTROGENIC EFFECTS: aromatisation to 17α-methylestradiol produces gynaecomastia and fluid retention; the associated sodium and water retention can raise blood pressure.
- HPG AXIS SUPPRESSION: suppression of GnRH and pituitary LH/FSH causing testicular atrophy, impaired spermatogenesis and suppressed endogenous testosterone, with variable and sometimes incomplete recovery.
- VIRILISATION IN WOMEN: hirsutism, voice deepening, male-pattern baldness, clitoral enlargement and menstrual disruption; voice and clitoral changes are commonly irreversible.
- GROWTH-PLATE EFFECTS IN ADOLESCENTS: premature epiphyseal closure with permanent reduction in adult height.
- UNREGULATED SUPPLY: because no legitimate pharmaceutical supply exists in the US or UK, material in circulation is of unverified identity, purity and dose, adding contamination and mislabelling risk to the intrinsic pharmacological risk.
identity
| full name | Metandienone / Methandrostenolone (17β-hydroxy-17α-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one) |
| category | Anabolic & Androgenic |
| modality | steroid |
| formula | C20H28O2 |
| molar mass | 300.4 g/mol |
| cas | 72-63-9 |
| half-life | ~3-6 h |
laboratory handling
| storage | Reference material is typically stored as a dry solid at controlled room temperature protected from light; analytical standards are commonly held at −20 °C, sealed and desiccated. |
| solubility | Practically insoluble in water; soluble in ethanol, methanol, acetone, chloroform and DMSO. White to off-white crystalline powder. |
| co-studied with | This index does not describe combination use. Combined exposure to several 17α-alkylated oral androgens is a recurrent feature of the case reports describing cholestatic injury and peliosis hepatis, and compounds the lipid and hepatic burden. |
Handling information describes laboratory practice for a research reagent. It is not a preparation guide for use in humans.
the receipts
5 citedLiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury, NIDDK/NIH (NBK548931) · 2020 · official
LiverTox, NIDDK/NIH (NBK569838) · 2020 · official
PubChem, National Library of Medicine · 2026 · official
Circulation · 2017 · observational
Case Reports in Gastroenterology / PMC5043289 · 2016 · reviews
others in Anabolic & Androgenic