Investigation about the deffects and the detection of finasteride, a substance which can be misused as masking agent in doping control

Project Title: Investigation about the effects and the detection of finasteride, a substance which can be misused as masking agent in doping control

Researcher: W. Schanzer, H. Geyer

Institution: German Sport University, Cologne, Germany

Year accepted: 2002

Summary: Recent studies with finasteride have shown, that this substance can be misused as a potential masking agent. The application of finasteride may prevent the detection of misuse of anabolic-androgenic steroids like nandrolone, norandrostendione, norandrostenediols, dihydrotestosterone and testosterone. These preliminary results should be confirmed by more extensive studies with several volunteers. If the preliminary results can be confirmed, it should be discussed, if finasteride is added to the prohibited class of masking agents. The second aim of the study is to develop and validate a sensitive and specific method for the detection of finasteride misuse.