Question

1. What are anabolic steroids?

2. What are catabolic steroids?

3. Anabolic steroids are primarily used for their anabolic effects on which molecules in which tissues?

4. How does anabolic steroid use affect the release of GnRH?

5. How does this affect GnRH release then lead to low sperm count and shrinking of the testicles?

Answer 1

1. Anabolic steroids: Anabolic steroids are basically steroidal androgen. The most important androgen in human secreted by testis is testosterone. The testosterone and its derivatives (steroids) are used for their anabolic effects like trophic growth of muscle, protein synthesis, synthesis of enzymes in body for growth. So the anabolic steroids are drugs (pharmacological elements) that mimics the male testosterone and enhance the anabolic processes by growth of muscle and by promoting secondary sex characteristics .The administration of steroidal androgen reduces the excretion of nitrogen in urine, this reduces the protein brakedown and increases the protein synthesis in body. This helps in the anabolic processes in the body. So these steroidal androgens is called anabolic steroids or anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS). Oxymetholone, Ethylestrenol, Methyltestosteron etc are the examples of anabolic steroids.