cleaves the prohormones and separates them into one or more active hormones. Often in nature, this cleaving process happens immediately, and a prohormone is quickly converted to a set of one or more peptide hormones.

Examples of natural, human prohormones include proinsulin and pro-opiomelanocortin, but the most widespread prohormones in use are synthetic and labeled as anabolic steroid precursors, used as ergogenic