Anabolic steroids and total parenteral nutrition

Malnutrition develops rapidly with total starvation, especially when a catabolic stress is superimposed. The measurement of body composition provides an accurate and quantitative measurement of both the nutritional state and the response to nutritional therapy. With malnutrition there is a loss of body fat and BCM with a concomitant expansion of the ECM. With the appropriate administration of calories and amino acid as TPN, a malnourished body composition is restored to normal. However the nutritional state is restored relatively slowly, particularly when compared to the rapid rate at which malnutrition may develop, especially in the septic and starving patient. The administration of nandrolone decanoate, a potent anabolic steroid, significantly improves the efficacy of TPN, resulting in a more rapid correction of the malnourished state. However, to demonstrate this effect an accurate and precise measurement of the nutritional state is required. Furthermore it is essential to account for a number of important independent variable which influence this response; specifically the caloric intake, the nutritional state and the age.