Steroid fuelled muscle-men risk going brain dead

September 28, 2006

Here’s a warning for all those men who feel the need to build up their biceps by using steroids that contain high levels of testosterone – a new study has found that the increased levels of the male hormone can lead to a catastrophic loss of brain cells.

The study was conducted by a team of boffins led by Barbara Ehrlich, professor of pharmacology and physiology at the Yale School of Medicine.

Previous studies have shown that taking large doses of androgens, or steroids, is known to cause hyper-excitability, a highly aggressive nature, and suicidal tendencies.

The researchers now suggest that these behavioural changes could be evidence of alterations in neuronal function caused by the steroids.

Through their study they showed that high levels of testosterone triggered programmed cell death in nerve cells in culture. Cell death, or apoptosis, is critical in many life processes, including development and disease.

Cell death is characterized by membrane instability, activation of caspases, which are the executioner proteins in apoptosis, change in membrane potential, and DNA fragmentation.

"In the present study we have demonstrated for the first time that the treatment of neuroblastoma cells with elevated concentrations of testosterone for relatively short periods, six to 12 hours, induces a decrease in cell viability by activation of a cell death program," Ehrlich said.

"Low concentrations of testosterone had no effects on cell viability, whereas at high concentrations the cell viability decreased with incremental increases in hormone concentration," she added.

The researchers said that the study showed that what people may perceive as a wrong judgement call in “muscle-bound” guys may actually be due to the lack of brain cells.

"Next time a muscle-bound guy in a sports car cuts you off on the highway, don't get mad, just take a deep breath and realize that it might not be his fault," said Ehrlich.

Testosterone is the main male hormone and it plays fundamental roles in development, differentiation, and cellular growth.

In neurons, testosterone acts as a neurosteroid and can induce changes at the cellular level, which in turn lead to changes in behaviour, mood and memory. Both neuroprotective and neurodegenerative effects of androgens have been reported.