The effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids upon resting and peak exercise left ventricular heart wall motion kinetics in male strength and power athletes M Climstein 1, P O'Shea 2, KJ Adams 3 & M DeBeliso 4 1Faculty Of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, & Department of Rehabilitation, Harbord Diggers' Memorial, Sydney, Australia. 2Department of Exercise Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, .USA.3Exercise Physiology Laboratory, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. 4Department of Kinesiology, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. USA. Climstein, M, O'Shea, P, Adams, KJ, DeBeliso, M (2003}. The effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids upon resting and peak exercise left ventricular heart wall motion kinetics in male strength and power athletes. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 6 (4): 387-397. Previous investigations reported alterations in myocardial fibres and systolic function associated with anabolic-androgenic steroid consumption by athletes. Advances in bio-medical technology have allowed further investigation in assessing the possible effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids on gross left ventricular kinetics. Twenty-three male strength and power athletes with a past and current history of anabolie- androgenic steroid consumption (x 46 days, range 28 days to 70 days), were compared to 23 controls. Testing consisted of resting and immediate post-exercise transthoracic left ventricular wall cardiokymograms. Statistical results identified no difference over time between groups or condition. Cardiokymographic waveform analysis found 32.61% of all (n= 184) waveforms to be abnormal (Type II, n=56 or Type III, n=4). There were 14 treatment subjects (60.87%) who demonstrated an abnormal waveform as compared to 9 controls (39.13%). A significant difference (p< 0.01) in the overall proportions of waveform types was identified where the treatment group exhibited 41.30% abnormal waveforms, compared to 23.91% by controls. Additionally, two athletes (1 treatment, 1 control) demonstrated abnormal left ventri- cular wall motions (Type III) analogous to impaired left ventricular performance. The results indicated: (a) highly strength trained athletes with no history of anabolic-androgenic steroid usage exhibited an unexpected high incidence of Type II waveforms (28.26%pre/ 23.91%post); (b) a comparable group of strength trained athletes using anabolic-androgenic steroids exhibited a significantly higher percentage of abnormal waveforms as compared to controls (34.78%pre/37.2 l%post). Based on these results, high intensity strength training with and without anabolic- androgenic steroid supplementation induced alterations in the left ventricular wall motion. Introduction Investigation into the deleterious effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) on the myocardium was first conducted in the early 1950s when hypertension and cardiac lesions were found in rats administered methylandrostenediol (1). More recent research has reported additional ultrastructural changes associated with AAS usage. This includes alterations in sarcoplasmic spaces containing lysomes; increased number of cells exhibiting mitochondriolysis, myofibrillolysis, and destroyed intercalated discs (2,3,4,5,6,7,8). 387