Impact of chronic administration of anabolic androgenic steroids and taurine on blood pressure in rats

Abstract

Supraphysiological administration of anabolic androgenic steroids has been linked to increased blood pressure. The widely distributed amino acid taurine seems to be an effective depressor agent in drug-induced hypertension. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of chronic high dose administration of nandrolone decanoate (DECA) and taurine on blood pressure in rats and to verify the potentially involved mechanisms. The study was conducted in 4 groups of 8 adult male Wistar rats, aged 14 weeks, treated for 12 weeks with: DECA (A group); vehicle (C group); taurine (T group), or with both drugs (AT group). Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured at the beginning of the study (SBP1), 2 (SBP2) and 3 months (SBP3) later. Plasma angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity and plasma end products of nitric oxide metabolism (NOx) were also determined. SBP3 and SBP2 were significantly increased compared to SBP1 only in the A group (P<0.002 for both). SBP2, SBP3 and ACE activity showed a statistically significant increase in the A vs C (P<0.005), andvs AT groups (P<0.05), while NOx was significantly decreased in the A and AT groups vs controls (P=0.01). ACE activity was strongly correlated with SBP3 in the A group (r=0.71, P=0.04). These findings suggest that oral supplementation of taurine may prevent the increase in SBP induced by DECA, an effect potentially mediated by angiotensin-converting enzyme.

Effects of Exogenous Androgens on Platelet Activity and Their Thrombogenic Potential in Supraphysiological Administration: A Literature Review

“…Exogenous androgens in high dosages and/or prolonged administration have been shown to be atherogenic, by inducing ample changes in the lipid profile (increasing low-density lipoprotein-LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoprotein-B, and decreasing high-density lipoprotein-HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein-A 1 ) [ 5 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 ], by increasing plasma homocysteine level [ 110 , 111 ], and by enhancing inflammation and oxidative stress at the endothelial level, with a consecutive reduction in NO synthesis [ 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 ]. AAS have also been shown to elevate blood pressure [ 111 , 112 , 115 ] and to induce hemorheological effects, through impairing vascular reactivity [ 105 , 111 ] and triggering a polycythemia-induced hyperviscosity syndrome (an intrinsic anabolic effect) [ 16 , 36 , 105 ]. Since the abovementioned altered parameters have been independently linked to various coagulation abnormalities (they lead to enhanced platelet adhesion and aggregation, activation of the coagulation cascade, and suppression of fibrinolysis [ 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 ]), it may be assumed that AAS abuse is prone to produce atherothrombotic phenomena also by influencing these cardiovascular risk markers.…”

Lipid Profile Changes Induced by Chronic Administration of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids and Taurine in Rats

“…Taurine is a “semi-essential”, ubiquitous sulfur-containing amino acid in mammalian tissues, with important physiological functions such as: bile salts synthesis, regulation of intracellular Ca 2+ concentration, anti-oxidative, osmoregulating, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and cyto-protective actions [9,10,11]. Multiple human and animal studies have highlighted the role of taurine in cardiovascular disease prevention through various beneficial actions, such as cardioprotection, blood pressure regulation, hemostasis modulation, delay of atherogenesis, obesity prevention, protection against diabetes mellitus, and its complications [12,13,14,15]. Taurine has antiatherogenic properties that are provided through several mechanisms: it lowers cholesterol and homocysteine levels, stimulates bile salts synthesis, alleviates endothelial dysfunction, inhibits proatherogenic functions of monocytes, inhibits cell proliferation and prevents blood vessel remodeling [10,14,16].…”

Effects of Anabolic Steroids on the Histological Structure of Renal Cortex of Adult Male Albino Rats and the Possible Protective Role of Taurine

“…It has been also recorded that taurine exerted preventive effects on experimental type II diabetic nephropathy, through decreasing blood glucose, improving lipid metabolism and stabilizing glomerular basement membrane structure [17] . Additionally, Rosca et al, (2016) stated that taurine had the ability to protect against AAS induced hypertension [18] .…”