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What: “The Andro Debate: Help, Harm or Hype”

Where: ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” series

When: Today at 4:30 p.m.

The controversy surrounding the use of androstenedione, a muscle-building supplement, has raged since August, when it became known that Mark McGwire uses it. Now ESPN’s outstanding journalistic series addresses the topic in a 30-minute special. Bob Ley is the host, with reports by Mary Ann Heaven, Shelley Smith and ESPN.com’s Tom Farrey.

Sales of androstenedione have increased five-fold since McGwire’s admission.

ESPN was unable to provide an advance copy of the show, but if this special meets the usual “Outside the Lines” standards, viewers should come away with a better understanding of the controversy.

The first segment, reported by Heaven, deals with the issue of whether andro is a supplement or steroid. Manufacturers of andro claim it is a natural adrenal hormone found in meat and plants. It is converted in the liver to testosterone, which is used in muscle production.

However, some sports doctors claim it is a steroid, which is how other countries, including Canada, classify it. The International Olympic Committee, the NFL and the NCAA have made it a banned substance, but major league baseball, the NBA and the NHL permit it.

It falls outside the Food and Drug Administration’s jurisdiction because the FDA cannot regulate dietary supplements unless they are marketed as drugs that treat and prevent diseases or they prove to be an unreasonable health risk.

Though no studies have definitively shown harmful side effects, skeptics say the supplements could have dangerous consequences similar to those of steroids, such as liver damage and heart problems.

In another “Outside the Lines” segment, Smith asks what andro actually does for and to the body, and what is fact and what is hype. She looks at claims that andro helps improve strength, recovery time and endurance, and asks if these claims come from scientific studies.

Farrey reports on andro use by two Alabama high school football players and their parents’ reaction.

Interestingly, ESPN, for one day in September, ran commercials for MetRx, which manufactures andro, on a bodybuilding show. But the ads were pulled in response to criticism from the NCAA and a national high school federation.