Andriol is testosterone with the undecanoate ester attached, and produced in oral form. It represents the first real attempt to create an oral testosterone since Methyl testosterone. I can only assume that the scientists responsible for this wanted to create a viable alternative to both injectable testosterones (which, at least for Hormone Replacement Therapy, is inconvenient), as well as other oral forms of testosterone.

To create Andriol, the scientists involved had to come up with a solution to the problems facing methyltestosterone, namely the fact that it is harsh on the liver and needs to be taken in very high doses to produce decent results. What they did was put 40mgs of Testosterone Undecanoate in oleic acid (an oil), and encapsulate it. Now they use castor oil and propylene glycol laurate instead of oleic acid, but that only increases the shelf life. After you put some testosterone undecanoate in caster oil and propelyne glycol laurate, you´ll have a testosterone which is highly fat-soluble due to the (very large) undecanoate ester attached to it, and able to be absorbed through your small intestine via the lymphatic system. What this means is that it avoids the "first pass" through the liver, a process which could destroy much of the active steroid, and place an undue amount of stress on the liver. It also displayed a rapid absorption and turnover in one study(11), which may account for it´s ability to not cause unwanted side effects . It´s not bad for your blood pressure (13), and also has no adverse effects on the prostate and may even improve blood pressure(12)! Thus, Andriol is remarkably light on all side effects, especially those related to liver toxicity and estrogenic sides.

Andriol for Women

In this study, done with women, it even displayed no ability to lower LH and FSH (Leutenizing Hormone and Follicle Stimulating Hormone, respectively), which are the hormones that tell your body to make more testosterone (11). I doubt Andriol could be properly regarded as liver toxic or too damaging to your HPTA (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Testicular-Axis, the thing that governs your body´s production of testosterone, among other things). at any kind of reasonable (or even excessive) dose. Actually, one study noted no adverse reactions or effects at all with the use of Andriol (10). As for your lipid profile and cholesterol, it has even been shown to have beneficial effects on them (14)!

Andriol Side Effects

Cost not withstanding, lets see what kind of Andriol side effects we can expect. Although it has a reputation for being very mild, you´ll still see some results from Andriol. One study using a very low dose on adolescent boys still showed a reasonable gain in Fat Free Mass(3) even though the boys were not training. And in another study focusing on the elderly, it improved their quality of life considerably (as androgens often do) (6), and also had beneficial effects on erectile dysfunction (7) (again, this is typical of androgens). This is certainly promising, but in a world where first time-ste In fact, it may even be a useful adjunct with Viagra for this purpose (8). Taking a large amount of Andriol is actually pretty safe. There was a 3 month study done in Korea, where a pretty small dose of Andriol ( 160 mg daily for 3 weeks then half that dose for the remainder of the study) resulted in a rise in testosterone. Serum total testosterone increased from 2.13 +/- 1.20 ng/ml at baseline to 6.04 +/- 3.08 ng/ml (p = 0.005) after 12 weeks. In addition, free testosterone was (barely) significantly changed from 8.60 +/- 2.25 pg/ml to 11.40 +/- 3.81 pg/ml (p = 0.13) (10). However, there were no significant changes in liver function tests, red blood cell count or lipid profiles, nor were there any significant adverse reactions that would have led to the cessation of the administration of oral testosterone.

Testosterone undecanoate and may offer an alternative for androgen treatment in women.

Testosterone + Undecanoate ester
     [androsta-4-en-3-one,17b-ol]
     Molecular weight of base: 288.429
     Molecular weight of ester: 186.2936
     Formula: C19 H28 O2
     Melting Point: 155
     Manufacturer: Organon
     Effective dose: 600mgs
     Active Life: less than 8-12 hours
     Detection Time: 4-5 weeks
     Anabolic/Androgenic Ratio (Range): 100:100

Source: steroid.com