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Essay on The Effects of Testosterone and Steroids

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Anabolic-androgenic steroid is a family of lipophilic hormone that derived from cholesterol, which includes the natural male hormone testosterone and its synthetic derivatives, such as nandrolone and androsterone (Janjic et al. 2012; Basile et al. 2013). Testosterone is the principle molecule that possesses both anabolic and androgenic properties, which semantically refers to the ability to stimulate the synthesis of complex biological molecules and the growth of masculine characteristics respectively (Quan et al. 2011). The supplement of testosterone has been used in medicine as an effective treatment of hypogonadism or severe muscle catabolism since its discovery. However, due to the poor efficacy in the form of oral medication and …show more content…

In addition, the same research postulates that testosterone inhibits the differentiation of preadipocytes to adipocytes and, hence, reduces the fat cell formation. These research findings are cohesive with the physiological fact that males with normal level of testosterone, in general, would have lower percentage of body fat than females due a small amount of testosterone is produced in ovaries and adrenal glands in females (Schanzer 1996).
Testosterone Effect on Muscle Synthesis
Studies have observed that the fat-free mass and the rate of muscle synthesis in both hypogonadal men and eugonadal men is associated with levels of prevalent testosterone in the body (Bhasin et al. 2001; Sinha-Hikim et al 2004). One research also proves that the number of myonuclear and myosatellite cells, the precursor of skeletal muscle, increase in direct correlation with the change in total and free concentration of testosterone (Bhasin et al. 2003 and Sinha-Hikim et al. 2004). These studies demonstrate that testosterone has a positive effect on myogenesis, a process of mammalian skeletal muscle formation.
Sinha-Hikim et al. observe that testosterone induces skeletal muscle hypertrophy, increasing the size of both type I and type II muscle fibers, by acting at multiple sites within the muscle through multiple mechanisms (Sinha-Hikim et al 2004). Their study found that

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