Impact of trenbolone on selected organs.

Trenbolone is a synthetic analogue of testosterone, belonging to the nandrolone group. It has both a strong anabolic effect and a limited androgenic effect (i.e. an androgen and anabolic steroid - AAS). It is used illegally by professional or amateur athletes, who want to improve their athletic performance and appearance by increasing their muscle mass. Trenbolone, like other AASs, are harmful, with 90% of users experiencing injurious side effects. It acts systemically on the body, and as such, its side effects can manifest as symptoms from different systems. Nevertheless, its popularity is increasing. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the adverse effects of trenbolone on the nervous, reproductive, immune systems and breast, muscular and adipose tissues. However, various other adverse consequences of trenbolone utilization are observed, with severe acne and gynaecomastia affecting approximately one-third of all users, as well as excessive body hair, stretch marks, hypertension and cardiac arrhythmia. The drugs are also subject to contamination, with use frequently resulting in local inflammation at the injection site, muscle adhesions and fibrosis, nerve damage or, in extreme cases, necrosis of the injection site. Additionally, due to the lack of available knowledge on the subject, many of the effects of trenbolone use remain unknown. Moreover, the fact that multiple AASs may be used simultaneously presents a significant problem in their study. Therefore, further research is necessary to better understand the effects of AAS on the body, and to expand our currently incomplete knowledge of their functional pathways.

Anabolic steroids and extreme violence: a case of murder after chronic intake and under acute influence of metandienone and trenbolone.

A 32-year-old male went to the police to claim he just killed his girlfriend by inflicting several stabs with a kitchen knife. He was very nervous and particularly aggressive. About 90 min after the assault, a blood specimen was collected with natrium fluoride as preservative. The blood was free of alcohol, pharmaceuticals and drugs of abuse, but tested positive by LC-MS/MS for metandienone (32 ng/mL) and trenbolone (9 ng/mL). The perpetrator admitted regular consumption of anabolic steroids to enhance his muscular mass, as he was a professional security agent. To document long-term steroid abuse, a hair specimen was collected 3 weeks after the assault, which tested positive for both drugs. Segmental analyses revealed in the proximal 1.5 cm segment, corresponding to the period of the assault, the simultaneous presence of metandienone (11 pg/mg) and trenbolone (14 pg/mg), while only metandienone (3 pg/mg) was identified in the distal 1.5 cm segment. As aggressiveness and violence can be associated with abuse of anabolic steroids, the aetiology of this domestic crime was listed to be due impulsive behaviour in a context of antisocial lifestyle.

A jaundiced bodybuilder Cholestatic hepatitis as side effect of injectable anabolic-androgenic steroids.

The use of anabolic steroids is prevalent in recreational athletes. This case report describes a young amateur bodybuilder who was referred to our outpatient clinic with jaundice and loss of appetite due to cholestatic hepatitis. Additional tests including a liver biopsy made it likely that the hepatitis was caused by the injectable anabolic steroid trenbolone enanthate. Cholestatic hepatitis may not be limited to the use of oral anabolic-androgenic steroids, as is widely assumed. Therefore, and because of other side effects, the recreational use of all forms of anabolic steroids should be discouraged.

Studies of the pharmacokinetic profile, in vivo efficacy and safety of injectable altrenogest for the suppression of oestrus in mares.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of the long-acting altrenogest injection (NV Readyserve® injection) for horses. DESIGN: A single-dose pharmacokinetic (PK) study was conducted. The in vivo efficacy study was a blinded, repeated measures design evaluating behaviour scores. The safety study was a non-blinded, controlled, parallel-group, randomised-block design as per the VICH protocol. METHODS: In the PK study, serial blood samples were obtained for analysis of plasma altrenogest for 150 h following the injection and a non-compartmental PK analysis was performed. For the efficacy study, 12 mares in oestrus were treated; they were monitored daily for 10 days for signs of oestrus during teasing and given a behaviour score that was compared with pretreatment scores. A standard safety study was conducted at 1-, 3- and 5-fold the recommended dosage for 84 days. Physical, haematological and biochemical examinations were performed. RESULTS: Mean plasma altrenogest concentrations were greater than ≈0.5 ng/mL for 148 h following administration. Oestrous behaviour was suppressed in all mares within 24 h of administration. Two mares returned to oestrus by day 6 and the rest on days 7-10. In the safety study there were no significant differences in the physical and haematological examinations, but minor biochemical changes in muscle enzymes. There was a low incidence of injection site reactions following the 3- and 5-fold dose, predominantly for pectoral injections. CONCLUSION: These studies support the efficacy and safety of a single dose of Readyserve® injection for the suppression of the signs of oestrus in mares for 5-7 days.

Trenbolone Improves Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Myocardial Tolerance to Ischemia-Reperfusion in Male Rats With Testosterone-Deficient Metabolic Syndrome.

The increasing prevalence of obesity adds another dimension to the pathophysiology of testosterone (TEST) deficiency (TD) and potentially impairs the therapeutic efficacy of classical TEST replacement therapy. We investigated the therapeutic effects of selective androgen receptor modulation with trenbolone (TREN) in a model of TD with the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Male Wistar rats (n=50) were fed either a control standard rat chow (CTRL) or a high-fat/high-sucrose (HF/HS) diet. After 8 weeks of feeding, rats underwent sham surgery or an orchiectomy (ORX). Alzet miniosmotic pumps containing either vehicle, 2-mg/kg·d TEST or 2-mg/kg·d TREN were implanted in HF/HS+ORX rats. Body composition, fat distribution, lipid profile, and insulin sensitivity were assessed. Infarct size was quantified to assess myocardial damage after in vivo ischaemia reperfusion, before cardiac and prostate histology was performed. The HF/HS+ORX animals had increased sc and visceral adiposity; circulating triglycerides, cholesterol, and insulin; and myocardial damage, with low circulating TEST compared with CTRLs. Both TEST and TREN protected HF/HS+ORX animals against sc fat accumulation, hypercholesterolaemia, and myocardial damage. However, only TREN protected against visceral fat accumulation, hypertriglyceridaemia, and hyperinsulinaemia and reduced myocardial damage relative to CTRLs. TEST caused widespread cardiac fibrosis and prostate hyperplasia, which were less pronounced with TREN. We propose that TEST replacement therapy may have contraindications for males with TD and obesity-related MetS. TREN treatment may be more effective in restoring androgen status and reducing cardiovascular risk in males with TD and MetS.

Product-to-parent reversion of trenbolone: unrecognized risks for endocrine disruption.

Trenbolone acetate (TBA) is a high-value steroidal growth promoter often administered to beef cattle, whose metabolites are potent endocrine-disrupting compounds. We performed laboratory and field phototransformation experiments to assess the fate of TBA metabolites and their photoproducts. Unexpectedly, we observed that the rapid photohydration of TBA metabolites is reversible under conditions representative of those in surface waters (pH 7, 25°C). This product-to-parent reversion mechanism results in diurnal cycling and substantial regeneration of TBA metabolites at rates that are strongly temperature- and pH-dependent. Photoproducts can also react to produce structural analogs of TBA metabolites. These reactions also occur in structurally similar steroids, including human pharmaceuticals, which suggests that predictive fate models and regulatory risk assessment paradigms must account for transformation products of high-risk environmental contaminants such as endocrine-disrupting steroids.

New onset diabetes associated with bovine growth hormone and testosterone abuse in a young body builder.

CASE: A 33-year-old male presented to the emergency department with complaints of polydipsia, polyuria, nausea, headaches, blurry vision and malaise. Lab work revealed a serum glucose level of 1166 mg/dl (64.8 mmol/L). The patient admitted to completing a cycle of androgenic anabolic steroids (AASs) for bodybuilding. His regimen consisted of supraphysiologic intramuscular injections of a bovine growth hormone, trenbolone acetate and testosterone. The patient received intravenous fluids and insulin to restore metabolic balance. Previously healthy with a non-contributory family history, he was diagnosed with new onset diabetes. DISCUSSION: It has been demonstrated that AAS use, specifically growth hormone, can affect glucose homeostasis through increasing cellular insulin resistance and reducing glucose uptake. Excess growth hormone has been shown to cause symptoms of acromegaly which predisposes up to 40% of patients to diabetes. As trenbolone acetate is not indicated for human use and athletes are known to use supraphysiologic doses of this underground, performance enhancing drug, the correlation of the timing of events and the use of this veterinary growth hormone likely exacerbated an underlying condition or caused this new onset diabetes. CONCLUSION: We report a case of a young bodybuilder with no significant past medical history who was diagnosed with new onset diabetes associated with supraphysiologic self-injections of the bovine growth hormone, trenbolone acetate, combined with testosterone. AAS have the potential to induce or exacerbate diabetic conditions due to decreased glucose tolerance and increased insulin resistance.

Concentrations of altrenogest in plasma of mares and foals and in allantoic and amniotic fluid at parturition.

Treatment with the progestin altrenogest is widely used in pregnant mares. The fact that foals born from healthy mares treated with altrenogest until term suffered from neonatal problems raises the question of direct effects of altrenogest on vital functions in the neonate. We have therefore investigated altrenogest concentrations in maternal and neonatal blood plasma and in fetal fluids. Pregnant mares were treated with altrenogest orally once daily (0,088 mg/kg bodyweight, n = 7) or left untreated (n = 8) from 280 d of gestation until foaling. Altrenogest concentration was determined in plasma of the mares, their foals and in amniotic and allantoic fluid. The concentration of altrenogest in plasma from treated mares (2.6 +/- 1.0 ng/mL) was significantly lower than in plasma from their foals immediately after birth (5.6 +/- 1.9 ng/mL; p < 0.05), but was significantly higher than in their fetal fluids (amniotic fluid: 0.4 +/- 0.1 ng/mL; p < 0.05; allantoic fluid: 3.0 +/- 1.5 ng/mL). Altrenogest was undetectable in maternal and fetal plasma and fetal fluids of control pregnancies at all times. Altrenogest concentration in plasma of foals from treated mares was strongly correlated to the altrenogest concentration in plasma of their dams (r = 0.938, p < 0.001) and in amniotic (r = 0.886, p < 0.001) and allantoic fluid (r = 0.562, p < 0.05). A significant decrease in altrenogest concentration between the time periods 0-15 min, 30-120 min, and 180-360 min after parturition was seen in the plasma from foals born to altrenogest-treated mares. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that altrenogest reaches the equine fetus at high concentrations.

Real-time PCR-based prediction of gonad phenotype in medaka.

An important endpoint in aquatic bioassays for potential endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is the gonadal phenotype of exposed fish, with special interest in intersex and sex-reversed individuals. Traditionally, the assessment of gonad phenotype is done via histology, which involves specialized and time-consuming techniques. The method detailed here increases the efficiency of the analysis by first determining the relative expression of four genes involved in gonad development/maintenance in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes), and then by using principal component analysis, assigning a phenotype to each gonad based upon the gene expression data. The gonad phenotype and the sexual genotype, which can be determined in medaka, can then be compared to assess potential adverse effects of exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals.