Pedro Menezes

Abnormal cardiac repolarization in anabolic androgenic steroid users carrying out submaximal exercise testing.

1. The aim of the present study was to investigate the cardiovascular effects of anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse by comparing the electrocardiographic parameters before and after submaximal exercise between AAS users and non‐AAS users.

Cardiac autonomic dysfunction in anabolic steroid users

This study aimed to evaluate if androgenic‐anabolic steroids (AAS) abuse may induce cardiac autonomic dysfunction in recreational trained subjects. Twenty‐two men were volunteered for the study. The AAS group (n = 11) utilized AAS at mean dosage of 410 ± 78.6 mg/week. All of them were submitted to submaximal exercise testing using an Astrand–Rhyming protocol. Electrocardiogram (ECG) and respired gas analysis were monitored at rest, during, and post‐effort. Mean values of VO2, VCO2, and VE were higher in AAS group only at rest. The heart rate variability variables were calculated from ECG using MATLAB‐based algorithms. At rest, AAS group showed lower values of the standard deviation of R‐R intervals, the proportion of adjacent R‐R intervals differing by more than 50 ms (pNN50), the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), and the total, the low‐frequency (LF) and the high‐frequency (HF) spectral power, as compared to Control group. After submaximal exercise testing, pNN50, RMSSD, and HF were lower, and the LF/HF ratio was higher in AAS group when compared to control group. Thus, the use of supraphysiological doses of AAS seems to induce dysfunction in tonic cardiac autonomic regulation in recreational trained subjects.