Effects of anabolic steroids in chronic renal failure. I. Short-term effects.

PROTEIN anabolic steroids have been advocated in the treatment of uremia for at least a decade. 1 The rationale for their use is to minimize net protein catabolism and thereby decrease the formation of intoxicating protein breakdown products. Despite this rationale and despite their widespread use, it has been difficult for clinicians to evaluate the effects of these steroids in azotemic patients. In the patient with acute renal failure the problem has been to differentiate the steroid effects from other variables which could also influence the level of azotemia. Such variables include infection, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, changing renal function, and numerous stress responses. In contrast, the patients with chronic renal failure are less subject to such changes in protein catabolism and renal function and hence are more amenable to controlled studies. Freedman and Spencer 2 studied the anabolic effects of testosterone propionate in chronic renal failure patients and noted a fall in blood