Hepatotoxicity of anabolic androgenic steroids in sport

Sekuła Michał, Świerczyńska Blanka, Smoluchowski Krzysztof, Undziakiewicz Adrian, Piecewicz Szczęsna-Halina. Hepatotoxicity of anabolic androgenic steroids in sport. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2020;10(9):349‑356. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2020.10.09.040 https://apcz.umk.pl/czasopisma/index.php/JEHS/article/view/JEHS.2020.10.09.040 https://zenodo.org/record/4030051 The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. § 8. 2) and § 12. 1. 2) 22.02.2019. © The Authors 2020; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 20.08.2020. Revised: 25.08.2020. Accepted: 15.09.2020. Hepatotoxicity of anabolic androgenic steroids in sport Michał Sekuła, Blanka Świerczyńska, Krzysztof Smoluchowski, Adrian Undziakiewicz, Halina Piecewicz-Szczęsna Student Research Circle at the Department of Epidemiology and Clinical Research Methodology, Medical University of Lublin Abstract Introduction and purpose: Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) abuse is a common practice among professional as well as recreational athletes. The prevalence of this phenomenon seems to be continuously escalating, too. Even though AAS abuse may provide a desirable haematopoietic and musculotrophic effect, it causes a wide variety of local and systemic side effects. This review aims to demonstrate the AAS induced hepatotoxicity, it is based on the medical literature from the last 10 years. Brief description of the state of knowledge: Orally administered 17-α-alkylated steroids are considered to be the most hepatotoxic. They increase the number of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which directly injure the liver tissue. It may be manifested as an elevation of liver enzymes, peliosis hepatis or distinctive acute cholestasis. Furthermore, ASS abuse for a prolonged period of time may induce the growth of hepatocellular adenoma and hepatocellular cancer. Moreover, AAS intake can lead to liver enlargement, development of toxicant-associated fatty liver disease (TAFLD) and increase the risk of HCV and HBV infection. Conclusions: The collaboration of scientists, doctors, sports associations and governments is substantial. Introduction of innovative AAS detection methods and enforcement of stricter anti-doping law may contribute to prevention of health consequences resulting from AAS abuse among athletes. Key words: hepatotoxicity, anabolic androgenic steroids, liver injury, spor