Anabolic steroids may increase life expectancy because they delay aging. On the other hand they may increase the risk of cancer in a much more fundamental way than endocrinologists suspect. These apparently contradictory conclusions can be drawn from a human study that American doctors published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Telomeres
Yep, we're writing about telomeres again. Telomeres are located at the ends of the chromosomes in the DNA. Every time your cells divide, your telomeres get a little bit smaller. And once the telomeres have disappeared your cells can't divide any more. The faster the length of telomeres decreases, the faster you age.
Do anabolic steroids increase life expectancy?
Some people's telomeres become shorter at a faster rate because of a hereditary genetic defect. One symptom of this defect is anaemia. The cells in the bone marrow are unable to manufacture enough blood cells because the cells age too quickly. Some doctors prescribe anabolic steroids such as danazol [structural formula shown above] to combat this type of anaemia. But exactly how danazol normalises the production of blood cells is not known.
The researchers wondered whether danazol perhaps has an effect on the length of the telomeres. This reasoning was based on the results of a 2009 in-vitro study in which androgens activated the enzyme telomerase in human cells. [Blood. 2009 Sep 10; 114(11):2236-43.]
Study
The researchers used two dozen patients for their experiment. All of them had telomeres that decreased in length faster than normal as a result of a genetic defect, and were therefore unable to produce enough blood cells.
The test subjects were given two doses a day of 400 hundred mg danazol. So they took a total of 800 mg danazol daily.
Results
In the two years that the subjects were given danazol, the length of their telomeres increased, according to the figure below. A year after the administration had stopped the effect had largely disappeared.
Anabolic steroids may increase life expectancy because they delay aging. On the other hand they may increase the risk of cancer in a much more fundamental way than endocrinologists suspect. These apparently contradictory conclusions can be drawn from a human study that American doctors published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The figure below shows the rate at which telomere length decreases in normal individuals [Normal], and the rate at which the length decreases in people where that goes quicker [Telomeropathy]. The effect of danazol on telomere length is also shown in the same figure.
Anabolic steroids may increase life expectancy because they delay aging. On the other hand they may increase the risk of cancer in a much more fundamental way than endocrinologists suspect. These apparently contradictory conclusions can be drawn from a human study that American doctors published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Conclusion
"Our results may have broader relevance for the frequent use of androgens for blood diseases in the developing world and for testosterone replacement in aging men in developed countries", the researchers wrote. "Longevity has been linked to telomere attrition rates in mammals." [Cell Rep. 2012 Oct 25;2(4):732-7.]
That sounds promising, but the researchers add that there may be advantages and disadvantages. "Telomere attrition and dysfunction have been implicated in the development of cancer in both mice [Nature. 2000 Aug 10;406(6796):641-5.] and humans." [JAMA. 2010 Sep 22;304(12):1358-64.] [JAMA. 2010 Jul 7;304(1):69-75.] [Blood. 2015 Jan 22;125(4):706-9.]
"The advantages and risks associated with the modification of telomere loss will need to be assessed in attempts to alter physiologic aging in humans."
"Evolution to myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia has been infrequent in historical studies of androgen treatment for bone marrow failure. [Am J Med 1981; 71: 543-51.] The mitigation of telomere erosion by sex hormones may abrogate early molecular steps in chromosome instability and oncogenesis and warrants investigation in clinical trials."
Telomeres
Yep, we're writing about telomeres again. Telomeres are located at the ends of the chromosomes in the DNA. Every time your cells divide, your telomeres get a little bit smaller. And once the telomeres have disappeared your cells can't divide any more. The faster the length of telomeres decreases, the faster you age.
Do anabolic steroids increase life expectancy?
Some people's telomeres become shorter at a faster rate because of a hereditary genetic defect. One symptom of this defect is anaemia. The cells in the bone marrow are unable to manufacture enough blood cells because the cells age too quickly. Some doctors prescribe anabolic steroids such as danazol [structural formula shown above] to combat this type of anaemia. But exactly how danazol normalises the production of blood cells is not known.
The researchers wondered whether danazol perhaps has an effect on the length of the telomeres. This reasoning was based on the results of a 2009 in-vitro study in which androgens activated the enzyme telomerase in human cells. [Blood. 2009 Sep 10; 114(11):2236-43.]
Study
The researchers used two dozen patients for their experiment. All of them had telomeres that decreased in length faster than normal as a result of a genetic defect, and were therefore unable to produce enough blood cells.
The test subjects were given two doses a day of 400 hundred mg danazol. So they took a total of 800 mg danazol daily.
Results
In the two years that the subjects were given danazol, the length of their telomeres increased, according to the figure below. A year after the administration had stopped the effect had largely disappeared.
Anabolic steroids may increase life expectancy because they delay aging. On the other hand they may increase the risk of cancer in a much more fundamental way than endocrinologists suspect. These apparently contradictory conclusions can be drawn from a human study that American doctors published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The figure below shows the rate at which telomere length decreases in normal individuals [Normal], and the rate at which the length decreases in people where that goes quicker [Telomeropathy]. The effect of danazol on telomere length is also shown in the same figure.
Anabolic steroids may increase life expectancy because they delay aging. On the other hand they may increase the risk of cancer in a much more fundamental way than endocrinologists suspect. These apparently contradictory conclusions can be drawn from a human study that American doctors published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Conclusion
"Our results may have broader relevance for the frequent use of androgens for blood diseases in the developing world and for testosterone replacement in aging men in developed countries", the researchers wrote. "Longevity has been linked to telomere attrition rates in mammals." [Cell Rep. 2012 Oct 25;2(4):732-7.]
That sounds promising, but the researchers add that there may be advantages and disadvantages. "Telomere attrition and dysfunction have been implicated in the development of cancer in both mice [Nature. 2000 Aug 10;406(6796):641-5.] and humans." [JAMA. 2010 Sep 22;304(12):1358-64.] [JAMA. 2010 Jul 7;304(1):69-75.] [Blood. 2015 Jan 22;125(4):706-9.]
"The advantages and risks associated with the modification of telomere loss will need to be assessed in attempts to alter physiologic aging in humans."
"Evolution to myelodysplastic syndrome or acute myeloid leukemia has been infrequent in historical studies of androgen treatment for bone marrow failure. [Am J Med 1981; 71: 543-51.] The mitigation of telomere erosion by sex hormones may abrogate early molecular steps in chromosome instability and oncogenesis and warrants investigation in clinical trials."
