Steroids speed up Alzheimer's, in cell study
Long-term use of high doses of anabolic steroids makes brain cells more sensitive to the beta-amyloid peptides that cause damage and kill brain cells in Alzheimer???s disease. Pharmacologists from the University of Catania draw this conclusion from experiments they did, in which they exposed rats' brain cells to testosterone, nandrolone and methandrostenolone [the active ingredient in dianabol].
Methyltestosterone 3-(O-carboxymethyl)oxime
The researchers tested not only these three anabolic steroids, but also analogues of them, which are not capable of penetrating cells. These are called oxime derivates. To give you an idea of what we're talking about, we've added a diagram showing the structure of the oxime derivate of methyltestosterone.
The letters BSA at the end of a word indicate that the substance is an oxime derivate. The researchers reasoned that, in cell studies, oximes would only be able to react with receptors on membranes.
They conducted experiments using cells from the cortex of embryonic rats. They left them for 48 hours in test tubes, and when they added steroids the cortex cells died. When they added flutamide, and anti-androgenic, the toxic effect disappeared.
The researchers don't understand why, but adding the anti-progestagen RU486 reversed the toxic effect of methandrostenolone.
Methandrostenolone doesn't do much with the androgen receptor, but it's not a progestagen either. The researchers have no idea why RU486 has this effect. All they say is that we don't yet understand how methandrostenolone works.
Long-term use of high doses of anabolic steroids makes brain cells more sensitive to the beta-amyloid peptides that cause damage and kill brain cells in Alzheimer???s disease. Pharmacologists from the University of Catania draw this conclusion from experiments they did, in which they exposed rats' brain cells to testosterone, nandrolone and methandrostenolone [the active ingredient in dianabol].
Methyltestosterone 3-(O-carboxymethyl)oxime
The researchers tested not only these three anabolic steroids, but also analogues of them, which are not capable of penetrating cells. These are called oxime derivates. To give you an idea of what we're talking about, we've added a diagram showing the structure of the oxime derivate of methyltestosterone.
The letters BSA at the end of a word indicate that the substance is an oxime derivate. The researchers reasoned that, in cell studies, oximes would only be able to react with receptors on membranes.
They conducted experiments using cells from the cortex of embryonic rats. They left them for 48 hours in test tubes, and when they added steroids the cortex cells died. When they added flutamide, and anti-androgenic, the toxic effect disappeared.
The researchers don't understand why, but adding the anti-progestagen RU486 reversed the toxic effect of methandrostenolone.
Methandrostenolone doesn't do much with the androgen receptor, but it's not a progestagen either. The researchers have no idea why RU486 has this effect. All they say is that we don't yet understand how methandrostenolone works.
