A clinical case of acute anabolic steroid-induced toxic hepatitis

Abstract

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) can be considered in cases of acute hepatitis by the exclusion of any disease-related causes. For several decades, anabolic steroids have been considered not only as drugs for treatment of diseases such as hypogonadism, sarcopenia, hypotrophy in cancer patients, aplastic anemia, etc., but also as risk factor for acute liver failure, that can lead to liver cancer, and even sudden death. Anabolic steroids are known to be increasingly used not only for legitimate medical uses, but also for enhance physical performance and promote muscle growth for ideal body shape. The article presents a clinical case of acute drug-induced hepatitis after 2 months of using stanozolol, a synthetic testosterone derivative, in a 25-year-old previously healthy man. Thorough etiological investigations ruled out other causes of DILI. The man was treated at the in-patient department and discharged with improvement, but it took several months for the disappearance of hepatic cytolytic and cholestatic changes. Clinicians should be aware of the risk for toxic drug-induced hepatitis in male bodybuilders and collect a thorough history of the patient’s intake of nutritional supplements that may contain androgen derivatives.