Use of performance-enhancing substances is widespread among men and women athletes and body builders, professional or amateur, adolescent or adult. Many of these substances are illegal or have adverse effects. This article describes the action and effects of androgenic and growth hormones, their legality, their potential for abuse, and their impact on mortality.

Several new androgen receptor (AR) coregulators, including ARA70, ARA55, ARA54, ARA160 and ARA24, associated with the N-terminal or the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of AR, have been identified by our group. We first identified the AR-LBD coregulators ARA70, ARA55, and ARA54. Our previous reports suggest that ARA70 can enhance the androgenic activity of 17 beta-estradiol (E2) and antiandrogens to...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ethanolic extract of Pueraria tuberosa (PT) on sexual behaviour and androgenic activity. Male albino rats were divided into four groups of six animals each: control group 1 (2% acacia solution), PT-treated group 2 (50 mg/Kg), PT-treated group 3 (100 mg/Kg), and PT-treated group 4 (150 mg/Kg). Sexual behavior of male rats in the presence of...

The liver is morphologically and functionally modulated by sex hormones. Long-term use of oral contraceptives and androgenic steroids can induce benign and malignant hepatocellular tumors. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is more prevalent in men than in women. The role of sex hormones and their receptors in the development of HCC was reviewed. Some HCCs may be androgen dependent but others may b...

There is presently considerable interest in endocrine disruption which is a new area of endocrinology concerned with chemicals that mimic hormones, in particular sex steroids. It has been hypothesised that exposure to such chemicals may be responsible for adverse effects in both humans and wildlife. Until now, chemicals that mimic oestrogens (so-called xenoestrogens) have been the main focus of...

The oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense, is an important aquaculture species in China. The androgenic gland produces hormones that play crucial roles in the differentiation of crustaceans to the male sex. MicroRNA (miRNA) post-transcriptionally regulates many protein-coding genes, influencing important biological and metabolic processes. However, currently, there is no published data...

Physical gestures are prominent features of many species' multimodal displays, yet how evolution incorporates body and leg movements into animal signaling repertoires is unclear. Androgenic hormones modulate the production of reproductive signals and sexual motor skills in many vertebrates; therefore, one possibility is that selection for physical signals drives the evolution of androgenic sens...

Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a chronic vulvar pain disorder characterized by hypersensitivity and severe with pressure localized to the vestibule. Knowledge regarding pathophysiological mechanisms contributing etiology production of symptoms in PVD remains incomplete but considered multifactorial. Using cross-sectional observational study design, data from untargeted metabolomic profiling v...