Endocrine Abstracts

Perceived anabolic benefits of androgens and GH have fueled their abuse among both competitive and recreational athletes. While both hormones increase muscle mass, whether they enhance exercise capacity in healthy adults is less clear. The yearning to boost performance however continues to bolster their inappropriate use in sports, despite many adverse effects. These include acne, excessive hair growth, prostate hypertrophy, behavioural, psychiatric, cardiovascular side effects, hepatic and sexual dysfunction for androgen use and oedema, carpal tunnel syndrome, arthralgias, as well as a state mimicking acromegaly with increased risk for diabetes, cardiomyopathy and malignancy, in the case of GH.

As GH and testosterone interact to promote anabolic effects, many athletes abuse both of these hormones. Testosterone significantly and dose-dependently increases muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. The effect of testosterone on aerobic exercise capacity is less clear. GH increases lean body mass, although fluid retention contributes to this effect. Our recent data indicate that GH does not enhance muscle strength, power, or aerobic exercise capacity, but improves anaerobic exercise capacity. When GH and testosterone abused together, there is not only potentiation of their effects on muscle mass and function, but also increased risk to develop side effects. As both these hormones are effective in improving body composition and certain aspects of performance, they are tempting targets for abuse among athletes. Whether they live up to the expected, that’s another question.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This work was supported, however funding details are unavailable.