ArticlePloS one2016
Former Abusers of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids Exhibit Decreased Testosterone Levels and Hypogonadal Symptoms Years after Cessation: A Case-Control Study.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 159 citations in OpenAlex.
- Care of Patients with Male Hypogonadism: A Joint Position Statement from the Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (SBEM), the Brazilian Society of Urology (SBU), and the Brazilian Association for Sexual Medicine and Health (ABEMSS).International braz j urol : official journal of the Brazilian Society of UrologyGuideline
- Trial
- Management of non-medical androgen use: a position statement by the Society for Endocrinology.Endocrine connections · 2026Article
- Clinical features of androgen abuse withdrawal in men during the first year of cessation: a community dwelling study.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Enhanced games and performance-optimized athletes: anticipating the orthopedic challenges, a narrative review.Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica · 2026Review
- Health consequences of anabolic steroids: a sexual-medicine perspective.International journal of impotence research · 2026Review
- Bigger than sport: the enhanced games and the commodification of telehealth, testosterone, and dependency.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Approach to the Patient: Low Testosterone Concentrations in Men With Obesity.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2025Review
- Cardiac structure and function in anabolic-androgenic steroid users: a 16-year follow-up study.Open heart · 2025Article
- Clinician's guide to the management of azoospermia induced by exogenous testosterone or anabolic-androgenic steroids.Asian journal of andrology · 2025Review
- Predicting Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Doping among Specialized Health Care Patients with Elastic Net Regression Reveals Potential Laboratory Variables for "Patient Biological Passport".Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Article
- Prolonged post-androgen abuse hypogonadism: potential mechanisms and a proposed standardized diagnosis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- Illegal and falsified medicines self-administrated in not approved post-cycle therapy after the cessation of anabolic-androgenic steroids - qualitative analysis.Frontiers in chemistry · 2025Article
- Article
- A study of long-term supraphysiologic-dose anabolic-androgenic steroid use on cognitive function in middle-aged men.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2024Article
- Observational
- Causal factors in childhood and adolescence leading to anabolic-androgenic steroid use: A machine learning approach.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2024Article
- The assessment of liver function test and fertility hormones in Saudi athletes using anabolic androgenic steroids.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2024Article
- Physical, psychological and biochemical recovery from anabolic steroid-induced hypogonadism: a scoping review.Endocrine connections · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsAbuse of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) is highly prevalent among male recreational athletes. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of AAS abuse on reproductive hormone levels and symptoms suggestive of hypogonadism in current and former AAS abusers.
methodsThis study had a cross-sectional case-control design and involved 37 current AAS abusers, 33 former AAS abusers (mean (95%CI) elapsed duration since AAS cessation: 2.5 (1.7; 3.7) years) and 30 healthy control participants. All participants were aged 18-50 years and were involved in recreational strength training. Reproductive hormones (FSH, LH, testosterone, inhibin B and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH)) were measured using morning blood samples. Symptoms of hypogonadism (depressive symptoms, fatigue, decreased libido and erectile dysfunction) were recorded systematically.
resultsFormer AAS abusers exhibited significantly lower median (25th -75th percentiles) total and free testosterone levels than control participants (total testosterone: 14.4 (11.9-17.7) nmol/l vs. 18.8 (16.6-22.0) nmol/l) (P < 0.01). Overall, 27.2% (13.3; 45.5) of former AAS abusers exhibited plasma total testosterone levels below the lower reference limit (12.1 nmol/l) whereas no control participants exhibited testosterone below this limit (P < 0.01). Gonadotropins were significantly suppressed, and inhibin B and AMH were significantly decreased in current AAS abusers compared with former AAS abusers and control participants (P < 0.01). The group of former AAS abusers had higher proportions of participants with depressive symptoms ((24.2%) (11.1; 42.2)), erectile dysfunction ((27.3%) (13.3; 45.6)) and decreased libido ((40.1%) (23.2; 57.0)) than the other two groups (trend analyses: P < 0.05).
conclusionsFormer AAS abusers exhibited significantly lower plasma testosterone levels and higher frequencies of symptoms suggestive of hypogonadism than healthy control participants years after AAS cessation. Current AAS abusers exhibited severely decreased AMH and inhibin B indicative of impaired spermatogenesis.
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