A Closer Look at Trenbolone
All articles related to the use of performance enhancing drugs are for
informational purposes only. All medications should be used under the advice and
supervision of a qualified, licensed physician.
Not too many steroids have an air of mystique about them quite like
trenbolone. It is one of those agents that you will hear talked up
aggressively by some guy in the gym, to later find he has not even tried it
himself yet. The bodybuilding literature is full of strong, unusual, and
often-inaccurate statements about this drug, and consequently an air of
misunderstanding has begun to cloud our view of trenbolone. The unusual history
of this compound, including prolonged periods of very limited availability and
high selling prices, has no doubt played a part in shaping the view of this
steroid in the minds of athletes. It seems when anything is out of reach, overly
expensive or both, people start looking at it in a different way. I therefore
thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look at the physical properties
of trenbolone, as well as its current state of availability and use.
Trenbolone (17beta-hydroxyestra-4,9,11-trien-3-one)
Structure
Structurally trenbolone is a derivative of nandrolone, carrying two additional
double carbon bonds at positions 9 and 11 (hence the prefix "tren", short for
tri-en). The activity of trenbolone differs from that of its parent hormone
considerably however. To begin with, trenbolone cannot aromatize to estrogen.
The delta-9 group present on its structure occupies a bond necessary for
aromatization of the A-Ring to be possible. Unless this group is removed
metabolically, which it does not appear to be, estrogen synthesis is impossible
in the body. Although nandrolone is a weak substrate for aromatase, estrogen
levels can still rise during use. With trenbolone we actually expect a lowering
of serum estrogen levels, as it should suppress endogenous testosterone release
(the primary substrate for estradiol in men).
Trenbolone Androgenic Activity
Although derived from nandrolone, trenbolone is comparatively far more
androgenic than this steroid. In fact it is several times stronger in this
regard than our primary androgen testosterone as well (1). The first
contributing factor to this of course is that trenbolone is a strong binder of
the androgen receptor. This trait is also characteristic of its parent
nandrolone, which is several times more active than testosterone in this regard.
Androgen binding is in fact further enhanced by the introduction of double bonds
in delta-9,11 (2), which makes trenbolone an even more potent agonist of the
androgen receptor than nandrolone. Perhaps more significant though is the fact
that unlike nandrolone, the strong receptor binding potency of trenbolone is not
diminished in androgen sensitive tissues by 5-alpha reductase. Trenbolone does
not seem to undergo 5-alpha reduction in humans to any appreciable degree at
all, which is evidenced by the fact that the major urinary metabolites of
trenbolone all possess the original tri-en structure with an intact delta-4
group (3). So trenbolone retains its original potency as it enters cells in
androgen target tissues with high 5AR concentrations, as this enzyme is not
affecting it. These factors work together to allow trenbolone to be a potently
androgenic steroid, instead of a primarily anabolic one in nature like
nandrolone.
Progestational Activity
It has been reported in other bodybuilding literature that trenbolone does not
exhibit any activity as a progestin in the body. I am not certain where this
belief originated, as trenbolone does appear to exhibit the classic progesterone
receptor binding ability that is characteristic of nandrolone and its
derivatives. One study looking at the bovine uterine progesterone receptor for
example found trenbolone to be a very potent binder, startlingly even more so
than progesterone itself (4). Another looking at the binding of various
compounds to the androgen, estrogen, progestin, mineral corticoid and
glucocorticoid receptors found trenbolone to be a more potent binder of the
progestin receptor than nandrolone (5), a steroid normally noted for its usual
activity in this regard. What does this mean for trenbolone? I don�t think it
really means that much. Trenbolone clearly doesn�t cause gyno, water retention
or fat buildup, which one might attribute to estrogenic or progestational
activity. So whatever slight action it does have as a progestin on paper doesn�t
amount to all that much in the real world. The absence of estrogen may be a
significant factor, as progesterone is believed to cause gyno by enhancing
estrogen�s stimulation of mammary gland growth (6). Perhaps when trenbolone is
taken with other aromatizable compounds it could affect a person�s sensitivity
level to gyno and water/fat retention. This seems logical, at least in a
technical sense, although admittedly I have seen no evidence to support this.
Mass or Cutting Agent
The potently androgenic and non-aromatizing nature of trenbolone makes it an
extremely effective hardening and cutting agent. In fact, it is thought of as
unmatched in its capacity as a body-sculpting steroid. Many competitive
bodybuilders similarly find it indispensable to any good pre-contest cutting
stack. For this type of purpose I doubt another steroid would serve you better.
Many people do additionally find they make very good muscle gains with
trenbolone. It is a potent muscle-builder, although we should probably not
consider it an ideal mass-builder when used alone. The absence of estrogen is an
important factor, as this trait seems integral in this type of steroid. This
probably has to do not only with water retention but also interactions between
estrogen and muscle glucose utilization, GH release and androgen receptor
proliferation. Today we are finally starting to understand why this hormone is
needed for optimal growth. Trenbolone is probably still the most potent
muscle-building agent of all the non-estrogenic steroids though, and admittedly
is quite unusual in its potency in this regard. But I would still think that if
mass were the goal and you were choosing only one steroid, testosterone,
Dianabol or Anadrol would be more productive every time in terms of overall
size, weight and muscle mass gain.
Availability
As mentioned in the opening of this article, trenbolone has been plagued by
periods of manufacturing inconsistency, high prices and scarce availability
since it first hit the market in the early 80�s. There is probably little need
to revisit in detail the rise and fall of Finajet in the 1980�s, or the demise
of Parabolan in 1997. Clearly the colorful history of trenbolone is well
discussed. But today�s situation is no less interesting, as we are in a unique
situation. For the first time in four years we have a legitimate injectable
trenbolone again, as the Mexican veterinary drug firm Laboratories Ttokkyo has
recently started producing Trenbol, a 10 ml bottle of trenbolone acetate (TA) in
the strength of 75mg/ml. This product is not cheap, and usually sells for
upwards of $150 a bottle. Reportedly Denkall is working on a similar item, and
there are some reliable underground generics floating about as well that sell
for a better price and usually supply a comparable amount of TA. There have been
some questions about raw material supply lately though, and whether or not both
types of product would remain on the market. This discussion was heightened by
the recent removal of Trenbol from Ttokkyo�s website, which is making a lot of
people nervous that this product may be on the way out. Hopefully this is just a
website problem and not a repeat of the fate that fell on Finajet and Parabolan.
If these products do dry up, trenbolone will still be available, but in the form
of cattle implant pellets. In Part II of this article I will take a closer look
at these unusual products, as well as the various methods utilized by
bodybuilders in an effort to effectively use them.
****UPDATE - Ttokkyo and Denkall both are out of business sue to a major bust
aptly named Gear Grinder -basskiller
by William Llewellyn
References
1) Pharmacological and endocrinological studies on anabolic steroids. Neumann F.
Environ Qual Saf Suppl 1976 (5) 253-64
2) Unique steroid congeners for receptor studies. Ojasoo, Raynaud. Cancer
Research 38 (1978) 4186-98
3) Disposition of 17 beta-trenbolone in humans. Spranger, Metzler. J Chromatogr
564 (1991) 485-92
4) Characterisation of the affinity of different anabolics and synthetic
hormones to the human androgen receptor, human sex hormone binding globulin and
to the bovine progestin receptor. Bauer, Meyer et al. Acta Pathol Microbiol
Imunol Scand Suppl 108 (2000) 838-46
5) Unique steroid congeners for receptor studies. Ojasoo, Raynaud. Cancer
Research 38 (1978) 4186-98
6) Progesterone is not essential to the differentiative potential of mammary
epithelium in the male mouse. Freeman, Topper. Endocrinology. 1978
Jul;103(1):186-92
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