Abstract
Summary
The erythropoietic effects of testosterone, oxymetholone, methenolone and metholone were compared in normal and fasted rats as well as mice on a protein free diet. The results of these androgenic-anabolic steroid studies are as follows: 1) methenolone and metholone produced a more marked erythropoietic response than testosterone when tested in normal female rats; 2) Fe59 incorporation in RBC of male fasted rats was higher with oxymetholone than with testosterone; and 3) testosterone was markedly less effective than oxymetholone, methenolone and metholone in increasing Fe59 incorporation in RBC of mice on a protein free diet. These results suggest that the erythropoietic activities of the above steroids are independent of their virilizing and anabolic effects, since testosterone is the most virilizing of the four agents and metholone, which induced the greatest erythropoietic effects, has the least anabolic action.
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