DHB (Dihydroboldenone)

Chemically DHB is 1-testosterone: it has one double bond between the first and second carbon atoms, boldenone has a second one. That is where the name dihydroboldenone comes from, the profile is a different one. In experiments 1-testosterone acted directly on the androgen receptor without being converted first.

No. ClinicalTrials.gov lists no trial with DHB or 1-testosterone (as of 25 October 2026) and there is no approval. An FDA laboratory first described the injectable with the cypionate ester in 2021 while analysing a product sold for bodybuilding.

The key paper comes from the Center for Preventive Doping Research in Cologne. 1-testosterone bound very selectively to the androgen receptor and activated it strongly. In rats an equimolar amount was as potent as testosterone propionate on the prostate, seminal vesicles and the levator ani muscle. Unlike with testosterone propionate, liver weight rose. The authors classify it as a typical anabolic steroid with the side effects typical for the class.

17 trained men took 1-androsterone or placebo orally for 4 weeks and followed a training plan. With the precursor lean mass rose by 6.3 percent (placebo 0.5) and fat mass fell by 24.6 percent (placebo 9.5). At the same time HDL fell by 38.7 percent, LDL rose by 32.8 percent, AST by 113.8 percent and the kidney filtration rate dropped by 18 percent. Another paper found 1-testosterone in urine after this precursor. DHB itself was not tested.

There are no studies on this and the cause has not been investigated. What is documented is where infections after steroid injections come from: in one case report a thigh abscess developed after non-sterile technique and multi-dose vials shared by three people. Pain that gets hotter, tighter and redder is therefore a matter for a doctor.

There are no human data for DHB itself. Reviews of anabolic steroids describe suppressed natural hormone production that can last for months after stopping, falling HDL and rising blood pressure. In animal testing liver weight rose on 1-testosterone, with the precursor blood lipids, liver and kidney markers worsened.