Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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SELECTIVE ANDROGEN RECEPTOR MODULATORS (SARMs) IN THE CONTEXT OF DOPING

AMALIA MIKLOS *, AMELIA TERO-VESCAN, CAMIL-EUGEN VARI, BIANCA-EUGENIA ŐSZ, CRISTINA FILIP, CARMEN-MARIA RUSZ, DANIELA-LUCIA MUNTEAN

University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, 39 Gheorghe Marinescu Street, 540139, Târgu Mureş, Romania

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Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are substances of increasingly interest in the medical area due to the anabolic effect on muscle and bone tissue. Even if they aren`t yet introduced into therapy, they are in various stages of experimental and clinical research for pathologies involving catabolic states in protein metabolism. These molecules manage to dissociate the anabolic effect from the virilising effect, compared with androgenic hormones, due to the non-steroidal structure that they detain. Having this pharmacological advantage, besides the possibility of being orally administered, these substances are used illegally by athletes and bodybuilders. It is important to note that SARMs are prohibited for performance athletes by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), but the concern is that they can be easily obtained from various uncertain sources. Moreover, their pharmacotoxicological profile is not clearly known, so their chronic administration, in high doses, represents a possible risk for the health.