While many may have never heard of anabolic-androgenic steroids, they are becoming an increasing issue in today’s society due to their ease of accessibility and increasing social media popularity. Although these substances may be tempting to use based on their ability to increase muscle size rapidly, many proven adverse health effects can occur with prolonged use of these compounds (Albano et al. 2021). In the study being analyzed, the researchers’ main goal is to determine if the effects of anabolic steroids are permanent or reversible.
Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are various hormones artificially synthesized to mimic testosterone, typically increasing muscle hypertrophy. In other words, people take these substances to gain muscle mass quicker and more efficiently than the normal person. Also, androgens are male sex hormones such as testosterone, the muscle-building hormone, and androgen receptors are the protein that binds the androgens to the muscles. This is how anabolic steroids work, as the excess hormone binds to the androgen receptors, increasing muscle size (Mazzeo 2018). Although AAS might seem like a relatively unknown substance, it is estimated that 1-3% of citizens in the United States have used these compounds before. (Albano et al. 2021). In this study, the researchers will use a derivative of AAS, nandrolone decanoate, more commonly known as deca. Deca is a highly effective AAS, and many bodybuilders cycle this compound when preparing for a bodybuilding show. The term “cycling” is commonly used for people who decide to abuse steroids over a specific period. An example of a cycle would be using a specific dosage, such as 500 milligrams, of injectable testosterone for twelve weeks. Bodybuilders would then “cycle off” or go off any AASs to reset their natural testosterone levels. Some side effects of nandrolone decanoate include high blood pressure, insomnia, mood swings, decreased libido, and much more (Kahal and Allem 2018). Deca is a good AAS to experiment on, as this compound is one of the most popular AAS people take. Aida Kahal and Rachida Allem wrote this article. They are affiliated with the Laboratory of Natural Bioresources at the University of Hassiba Ben Boua. This study was revised on June 3rd, 2018, and published on July 7th, 2018. The study can be found in the Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy Journal in Volume 106, pages 917-922.
The authors conducted a study on male adult mice to see the effects of repeat administration of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) on the kidney, heart, and testis. What is extremely interesting about this article is that the main point is not just to find the adverse effects of AAS but also to see if the negative effects are reversible. This is where the inherent knowledge gap exists, as no previous study has shown whether these effects are reversible.
To start, they chose forty adult male mice as their experimental group, and the qualifications were that they had to be between twenty-five and forty grams. They then split the mice into five groups, one group being the control and the other receiving the deca compound (an AAS) at differing lengths, from one month to three months. They were first acclimated to the environment for fifteen days, with a controlled temperature and humidity to ensure consistency. The AAS of choice is nandrolone decanoate (deca), all purchased from the same company. The mice were injected every week with thirty milligrams per kilogram of their body weight. All mice were decapitated seven days after they were last administered the AAS, then the organs were stored in formaldehyde to be cleaned and dehydrated. To analyze the data, the scientists used microscopy to examine the potential damage to the heart, kidneys, and testes (Kahal and Allem 2018).
After the AAS was administered to the rats, they noticed many effects. Unsurprisingly, the researchers immediately noticed increased muscle strength and size in the rats, and the more prolonged the AAS administration, the more weight the rats put on. On the other hand, the adverse health effects became increasingly apparent. In the control group, the cardiovascular fibers were completely normal. However, the fibers elongated in the groups where they administered AAS, and some were even destroyed. The more prolonged the AAS was administered, the more severe the effects. The researchers also noted that the size of the heart and the walls of the heart’s chambers increased significantly (Kahal and Allem 2018). Many other studies support evidence of this type of cardiovascular damage. For example, this study found that using AAS has been proven to impact the heart significantly and can cause the walls of the heart’s main pumping chamber to thicken, causing a significant spike in blood pressure. (Albano et al. 2021) They also noticed atrophy in the testis as they compared the weight of the testis to the control group and found that the experimental group was significantly lower. Also, degenerative changes were found in the kidneys’ structure, such as hemorrhages in the blood vessels. Most importantly, they concluded that these changes were not reversible. They even found that the adverse effects got worse ten days after stopping treatment(Kahal and Allem 2018).
The main critique of the article is that the study is conducted on mice, not humans. Mice do not have the same biological features as humans, which means humans could react to these compounds differently than rats. Unfortunately, there are ethical limitations to conducting a study on humans in this situation, as injecting them with hormones that have potentially detrimental side effects is not possible. Also, the study uses a total of forty-five rats in five different groups, which means nine mice per group. This should be enough of a sample size to form a causal relationship. Unfortunately, the author does not include any limitations or flaws in the study (Kahal and Allem 2018). In the future, the researchers should be more transparent about how they determined that the effects of AAS are not reversible. They could also potentially conduct this study on an animal that more closely represents humans. Although the study was not done on humans, the study has validity as mice have been used for experiments for a very long time and are the most common form of animal experimentation. Overall, this study is highly repeatable as they can always acquire new mice and deca to complete this test again. Also, this study is justified as multiple studies have shown the effects of AAS. However, there was little to no knowledge of whether these changes were reversible, especially in the kidneys.
This study is essential in spreading awareness of the long-term effects of abusing AAS. Hopefully, this study reaches out to an audience of users who wish to use anabolic androgenic steroids, as it could potentially dissuade them from using AAS. The next step the researchers could take is conducting a more extensive experiment on humans or animals that closely represent humans to ensure the study’s reliability. While these substances may be tempting, the risks do not outweigh the benefits, and potential users’ bodies will regret taking AAS in the long term, as this study shows that it is impossible to recover from these long-term side effects.
References:
Albano GD, Amico F, Cocimano G, Liberto A, Maglietta F, Esposito M, Rosi GL, Di Nunno N, Salerno M, Montana A. 2021. Adverse effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids: a[BPE1] literature re[BPE2] view[BPE3] . Healthcare. 9(1):97. doi:10.3390/healthcare9010097.
Kahal A, Allem R. 2018. Reversible effects of anabolic steroid abuse on cyto-architectures of the heart, kidneys and testis in adult male mice. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 106:917–922. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2018.07.038.
Mazzeo F. 2018. Anabolic steroid use in sports and in physical activity: overview and analysis. sport Mont. 16(3):113–118. doi:10.26773/smj.181020.
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