STUDIES ON ANABOLIC-STEROIDS .7. ANALYSIS OF URINARY METABOLITES OF FORMEBOLONE IN MAN BY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

The metabolism of formebolone in man is described. After Sep-Pak C18 extraction, the free, conjugated and acidic steroids were separated. After enzymatic hydrolysis of the conjugates, the neutral steroids were identified by GC-MS. Two metabolites identified as 2-hydroxymethyl-11-alpha-17-beta-dihydroxy-17-alpha-methylandrost-1,4-diene-3-one and 11-alpha-hydroxymethyltestosterone were isolated from both the free and conjugated steroid fractions. An acidic metabolite identified as 11-alpha,17-beta-dihydroxy-17-alpha-methyl-3-oxo-androsta-1,4,-diene-2-carboxylic acid was isolated from the free steroid fraction. This acidic steroid was stable when derivatized as the methyl ester- TMS ether derivative but its TMS ester- TMS ether derivative progressively degraded to yield the 17-mono and 11,17-di-O-TMS ether derivatives of 11-alpha-hydroxymethandienone. The GC-MS features of formebolone metabolites are presented and its routes of biotransformation are discussed.