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Cardiac autonomic dysfunction in anabolic steroid users
Author(s) -
Maior A. S.,
Carvalho A. R.,
MarquesNeto S. R.,
Menezes P.,
Soares P. P.,
Nascimento J. H. M.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2011.01436.x
Subject(s) - medicine , heart rate variability , anabolic steroid , anabolism , heart rate , cardiology , endocrinology , physical therapy , blood pressure
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 A strand– R hyming protocol. Electrocardiogram ( ECG ) and respired gas analysis were monitored at rest, during, and post‐effort. Mean values of VO 2 , VCO 2 , and V E 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 ( pNN 50), 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, pNN 50, 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.