Oxandrolone

ID: oxandrolone

Aliases: Anavar, oxandrin

Type: compound

Route/form: oral

Status: approved_or_legacy_prescription

Evidence level: approved / labelled

Best data tier: approved label + human controlled/review

Support scope: human, review/regulatory

Source types: human_trial, label, meta_analysis, review, safety_review, systematic_review

Linked sources: 9

Broad outcomes: Fat loss / metabolic health, Hormones / fertility / sexual health, Muscle growth / performance / recovery, PEDs / AAS / thermogenics, Safety / regulatory

Reading note: These are curation notes anchored to linked sources, not a clinical recommendation or protocol.

Targets / mechanism

• androgen receptor agonist
• 17-alpha-alkylated oral AAS
• protein-catabolism reduction

Optimization domains

• steroid
• muscle
• body composition
• burns
• catabolism
• weight gain
• doping

Research basis

• Approved/labelled oral anabolic steroid with clinical use around weight gain after catabolic illness, injury, or surgery.
• Human burn, wound-healing, AIDS-wasting, and trauma literature gives real catabolic-care evidence that oxandrolone can affect lean mass or recovery-relevant endpoints.
• It belongs as a comparatively studied oral AAS, not because the clinical contexts validate casual physique use.

Limits, risks, and missing evidence

• 17-alpha-alkylated oral AAS risk, lipid disruption, endocrine suppression, virilization risk, and liver monitoring matter even if oxandrolone is described as mild.
• Burn/catabolic-care data do not validate healthy physique cycles, female virilization risk, or long-duration nonmedical use.
• Class cardiovascular and hepatic risks remain relevant at performance doses or when stacked.

Risk flags

• prescription only
• oral 17aa aas
• hepatic risk
• lipid risk
• endocrine suppression
• virilization risk

Linked papers, labels, and reviews

1. DailyMed label: Oxandrolone tablet
   label / dailymed_oxandrolone_label
   Official oral oxandrolone label for adjunctive weight gain/catabolic contexts and hepatic/lipid androgen warnings.
2. The effects of oxandrolone on severe burn injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis
   meta_analysis / pubmed_oxandrolone_burns_meta_2019
   Human severe-burn evidence synthesis; supports catabolic-injury use, not general physique use.
3. Anabolic androgenic steroid-induced liver injury: an update
   safety_review / pubmed_aas_liver_effects_2018
   Class hepatic-risk review, especially relevant for 17-alpha-alkylated oral AAS such as oxymetholone, methandienone, stanozolol, and oxandrolone.
4. Anabolic-androgenic steroids: How do they work and what are the risks?
   review / pubmed_aas_risks_2023
   General AAS mechanism and risk review; used as class-level caution for nonmedical androgen/anabolic steroid entries.
5. Oxandrolone use in adult burn patients. Systematic review and meta-analysis
   meta_analysis / pubmed_oxandrolone_adult_burns_meta_2014
   Adult burn-patient evidence synthesis; supports catabolic-injury use, not general physique extrapolation.
6. Oxandrolone Efficacy in Wound Healing in Burned and Decubitus Ulcer Patients: A Systematic Review
   systematic_review / pubmed_oxandrolone_wound_healing_review_2022
   Wound-healing/catabolic-care synthesis for oxandrolone; route and clinical context differ from PED use.
7. Oxandrolone in AIDS-wasting myopathy
   human_trial / pubmed_oxandrolone_aids_wasting_1996
   Human AIDS-wasting source anchoring oxandrolone anabolic effects in disease catabolism.
8. Oxandrolone in trauma patients
   human_trial / pubmed_oxandrolone_trauma_2000
   Trauma-patient source for clinical catabolic-stress context; not a healthy-user performance result.
9. Anabolic-androgenic steroids among recreational athletes and cardiovascular risk
   safety_review / pubmed_aas_recreational_athletes_cv_review_2025
   Recent cardiovascular-risk review focused on recreational athlete AAS use; class-level safety source for nonmedical androgen entries.