Anabolic/Androgenic Steroids in Skeletal Muscle and Cardiovascular Diseases

Testosterone exerts significant effect on muscle cells, and abnormalities of plasma concentra‐ tions can cause both skeletal muscle and cardiovascular diseases. Low levels are known to be associated with hypogonadism and have recently been linked to sarcopenia and metabol‐ ic syndrome; high levels are associated with hypertrophy. However, most evidence of the link between testosterone and metabolic actions is observational. Studies targeted to estab‐ lish the mechanisms for such effects at the cell level and their correlation with in vivo models will broaden our understanding of the role played by these male steroid hormones in the pathophysiology of muscular and metabolic diseases.