Something Interesting I Found, although says not every steroid user will get NAFLD
The term steroid represents a subclass of lipid hormones. Not specific to anabolic steroids. Sex hormones progesterone, estrogens and androgens are a subclass of steroids. As are vitamin D, allopregnanolone, oxysteroids and corticosteroids and many more.
As aforementioned by asteelz, gotgame and myself. Some steroids may act to worsen an underlying NALFD, rather than causing the condition de novo (a new). Not as a direct cause. That would be the same as Nolvadex, as it possess the potential to be hepatotoxic in larger doses.
"The question isn’t out of line, particularly as oral steroids are toxic to the liver when used in large amounts for extended periods of time. A new study examined whether anabolic steroids are indeed linked to NALFD.1 The subjects consisted of 180 noncompetitive bodybuilders, 95 of whom had at some point used steroids for more than two years. The other 85 subjects, who hadn’t used steroids, were the controls. Most in the steroid group had used the drugs for periods ranging from two to 10 years, with an average of four years. The doses varied from 200 to 5,200 milligrams, with an average weekly dose of 1,200 milligrams. The main injectables used were nandrolone, boldenone, methenolone and stanozolol. Orals included Dianabol, Anadrol and Anavar.
The results? 12.6 percent of the steroid users met the diagnostic criteria for NAFLD compared to 2.4 percent of the nonsteroid users. One liver enzyme was elevated four times higher in the steroid group than in the controls, and the steroid users also had less high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, or HDL, which is protective against cardiovascular disease and is lowered with oral steroid use. Twelve of the steroid users had enlarged livers with an infiltration of excess fat.
The most interesting aspect of the study was that none of the bodybuilders had excess bodyfat, the primary risk factor for NAFLD. One guy did, however, have full-blown diabetes—although it wasn’t clear whether he was in the steroid group. Another interesting finding was that both groups had increased blood lipid numbers, and they were slightly higher in the steroid group. Indeed, among the steroid users, 89 percent had low HDL compared to 67 percent in the nonsteroid group. So some of the steroid users had clear cases of NAFLD, despite showing none of the usual risk factors for it, like obesity and insulin resistance. Then how did they get it?"
A Different Steroid-Related Liver Problem | Iron Man Magazine
1 Adriana Schwingel, P., et al. (2011). Anabolic-androgenic steroids: a possible new risk factor of toxicant-associated fatty liver disease. Liver Int. 31(3):358-353.
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