Nandrolone decanoate reduces the premature mortality of cardiomyopathic hamsters

Male hamsters of an inbred strain carrying a genetic trait for cardiomyopathy were dosed by sc injection weekly with an anabolic-androgenic steroid, nandrolone decanoate, beginning when 3 months old. Two groups (N = 17) received doses of 2 and 4 mg per animal, while a vehicle control group received an equal volume of sesame oil. Rather than a hypothesized shortening of longevity, the steroid treatment significantly prolonged survival of the hamsters, which ordinarily die of congestive heart failure. At the median time to death for controls (355 days of age, 257 days of treatment), the steroid groups had mortality of only 2/17 and 4/17 (vs. 9/17, p < 0.01).