Cardiovascular Effects of Anabolic Steroids in Weight‐Trained Subjects

Abstract

The effects of large doses of anabolic steroids on 24-hour blood pressure, cardiac structure and function, and lipid profiles were studied in 10 body builders using anabolic steroids and 14 body builders who did not use steroids (control subjects). All subjects underwent noninvasive 24-hour blood pressure monitoring, echocardiography, Doppler analysis of transmitral flow, and analysis for lipoprotein and gonadotropin levels. Anabolic steroid users were studied at the end of a steroid cycle and after a period of withdrawal. Average 24-hour blood pressure was similar in the two groups, but anabolic steroid users exhibited a smaller pressure reduction during sleep than did nonusers. This finding was present both at the end of treatment and after the period of withdrawal. Echocardiographic dimensional and functional indexes did not differ substantially between anabolic steroid users and the nonusers, and were similar in anabolic steroid users during use and after withdrawal. Anabolic steroid users also had higher LDL and lower HDL cholesterol levels than nonusers; Lp(a) was higher in nonusers, although this difference did not attain the level of statistical significance. These differences were more striking at the end of the treatment period. The results of this study show that chronic anabolic steroid intake causes an abnormal 24-hour blood pressure pattern, characterized by a flattening of the diurnal curve, and minor changes of the dimensional echocardiographic parameters.

Knowledge and Attitudes of Amateur Sports Participants Regarding the Cardiac Risks Associated With the Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids

“…This increase in diastolic blood pressure was reported from 74 to 86mm Hg after 10 weeks of high-dose AAS use. Blood pressure measured by an ambulatory monitor over a 24-hour period showed similar results in AAS users and controls, although chronic AAS use causes an abnormal nocturnal physiological dipping (13). This is in contrast to a more recent robust study showing that AAS is not associated with significant effects on arterial structure and function, but however did affect vascular reactivity and arterial thickness (14).Another prospective study did not show statistically significant alterations in blood pressure, even in those self-administering supra-therapeutic doses of AAS for periods of up to 16 weeks (15).…”

Effect of Testosterone and Resistance Training on Cardiac Mass and Contractility in Men with COPD

“…Several studies demonstrated an increase in left ventricular end diastolic volume, left ventricular mass and/or worsening diastolic function [11][12][13], while other studies demonstrated no cardiovascular changes with anabolic steroid use [14][15][16]. However, in bodybuilding, the doses used are often 10-100 times the therapeutic dose; in one report involving 24 weight lifters, the lowest dose was 350% of the usual therapeutic dose [17].…”

“…Poor visualization of the right ventricle, a poorly defined endocardial surface, irregular right ventricular geometry, and limited reproducibility of exercise studies are important limitations of echocardiography in evaluating the left and right ventricle [26]. Cardiac exercise CT has been shown to have excellent sensitivity and specificity for detecting coronary disease and for assessing changes in both right and left ventricles [11][12][13][14][15]27,34]. CT also allows clear apical delineation, and breast shadows, obesity, the diaphragm or bowel do not cause attenuation, and excellent reproducibility has been demonstrated, with interstudy, intraobserver and interobserver variations were 0.01±1.4, 0.06±2.0 and 0.28±2.1% respectively [14,28,29,36].…”

“…Exercise electron beam computed tomography: After the rest CT, patients underwent submaximal exercise using a stationary supine bicycle ergometer to assess for exercise-induced changes in cardiac output, LV and RV ejection fractions. The exercise protocol has been described previously [13,14]. Work rate was increased by 25 Watts every 2 minutes to 60% of the peak work rate determined during preintervention incremental cycle testing.…”

Kardiovaskuläre Nebenwirkungen von anabol-androgenen Steroiden

“…Die vorliegenden Befunde unter AAS sind uneinheitlich. Es wird sowohl über eine unveränderte [21,24,45,83,101,110] als auch über eine eingeschränkte diastolische linksventrikuläre Funktion [20,57,80,86,105,106] berichtet. Die diskrepanten Befunde lassen sich am ehesten methodisch erklären.…”