Mestanolone is an oral analogue of dihydrotestosterone. This steroid is a 17-alpha methylated form of this potent endogenous androgen, being essentially (in structure) to dihydrotestosterone what methyltestosterone is to testosterone. Overall, mestanolone has an activity profile not very dissimilar from the hormone it is derived from. Like dihydrotestosterone, mestanolone is primarily androgenic in nature, displaying a low level of anabolic activity. Both dihydrotestosterone and mestanolone are also devoid of estrogenic activity. Dihydrotestosterone was synthesized in 1935. After that 17-alpha-methylated version also appeared. This steroid was not frequently used in clinical medicine. It was produced under the name of ermalon for short period of time. Most studies involving mestanolone were carried out in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s it was used as part of the East German doping machine. Mestanolone was evaluated not for its anabolic ability but for its androgenic essence. It improved the functioning of the CNS and neuromuscular interaction. Athletes claimed that it did not make them huge, but gave them speed, strength, aggression, stamina and resistance to stress. Mestanolone is still valued as an oral androgen.