Prodrugs utilizing organosilyl derivation: an investigation of the long-term androgenic and myotrophic activities of silyl derivatives of testosterone.

The long-term androgenic and myotrophic activities of dimethylditestosteroxysilane and diphenylditestosteroxysilane were studied and compared with the activities of testosterone propionate and testosteroxytrimethylsilane. The testing was carried out in vivo, using castrated male rats, over a 50-d period. Dimethylditestosteroxysilane and diphenylditestosteroxysilane were shown to exhibit both myotrophic activity and androgenic activity. In the early stages of the study, dimethylditestosteroxysilane displayed myotrophic activity with no corresponding androgenic activity. The results presented indicate that these silyl ethers act as latentiated derivatives of testosterone.