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How Anabolic Steroids Work in the Body
Steroids taken orally proceed through the gastrointestinal tract to the liver, where they are processed before going into the blood; steroids taken parenterally go directly into the blood stream. Eventually, however, all anabolic steroids wind up in the blood stream, carried along with thousands of other types of molecules. How anabolic steroids work to increase muscular size and strength is best explained on a cellular level. The cells within the tissues of our bodies have certain areas that are receptive to some free-floating molecules within the blood. These areas are called receptor sites. There are receptor sites with an affinity for steroid molecules in our skeletal muscle cells, for example. A steroid molecule being carried along in the blood enters the muscle cell by diffusion and binds to one of these receptor sites. The connection that is formed permits the steroid molecule to deliver a cellular message or command to the receptor site to effect certain metabolic changes within the cell. One of these primary metabolic changes is increased protein synthesis and nitrogen retention, leading to increased size and strength of the skeletal muscle cell. The connection of a steroid molecule and receptor site is fleeting: once the steroid molecule delivers its cellular command, it moves on to other receptor sites, delivering its message over and over until it is converted into another compound or is excreted in the urine. This capacity of androgens to be converted into other substances by chemical reactions and enzymes within certain tissues of the body will be extremely significant later when we discuss potential side effects (see Health Risks section).
Anabolics also enhance size and strength through a different mechanism. Intense training causes the body to produce increased levels of cortisol, a catabolic substance that causes muscle tissue breakdown. Anabolics have an anticatabolic effect; that is, they prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue by displacing cortisol from its receptors. Consequently, recovery processes are speeded up and injuries, including the microscopic muscle damage incurred from heavy training, heal faster. Some authorities believe that the anticatabolic properties of steroids may be of equal significance to the anabolic properties.
Steroids taken orally proceed through the gastrointestinal tract to the liver, where they are processed before going into the blood; steroids taken parenterally go directly into the blood stream. Eventually, however, all anabolic steroids wind up in the blood stream, carried along with thousands of other types of molecules. How anabolic steroids work to increase muscular size and strength is best explained on a cellular level. The cells within the tissues of our bodies have certain areas that are receptive to some free-floating molecules within the blood. These areas are called receptor sites. There are receptor sites with an affinity for steroid molecules in our skeletal muscle cells, for example. A steroid molecule being carried along in the blood enters the muscle cell by diffusion and binds to one of these receptor sites. The connection that is formed permits the steroid molecule to deliver a cellular message or command to the receptor site to effect certain metabolic changes within the cell. One of these primary metabolic changes is increased protein synthesis and nitrogen retention, leading to increased size and strength of the skeletal muscle cell. The connection of a steroid molecule and receptor site is fleeting: once the steroid molecule delivers its cellular command, it moves on to other receptor sites, delivering its message over and over until it is converted into another compound or is excreted in the urine. This capacity of androgens to be converted into other substances by chemical reactions and enzymes within certain tissues of the body will be extremely significant later when we discuss potential side effects (see Health Risks section).
Anabolics also enhance size and strength through a different mechanism. Intense training causes the body to produce increased levels of cortisol, a catabolic substance that causes muscle tissue breakdown. Anabolics have an anticatabolic effect; that is, they prevent the breakdown of muscle tissue by displacing cortisol from its receptors. Consequently, recovery processes are speeded up and injuries, including the microscopic muscle damage incurred from heavy training, heal faster. Some authorities believe that the anticatabolic properties of steroids may be of equal significance to the anabolic properties.
