Ep. 238 - Do Steroids Give a Permanent Advantage? (feat Dr. Alex Kolliari-Turner)

It’s the four-year anniversary of the last appearance of then MR. Alex Kolliari-Turner, now DR. Alex Kolliari-Turner, who returns to Iron Culture to share the results of his now-completed Ph.D. research on the long-term performance-enhancing effects of anabolic steroids (if any). A lot has changed in this burgeoning area of research, as it hinges on a theory of muscle physiology: myonuclear domain theory. Our understanding of the mechanisms of “muscle memory” leads to the possibility of anabolic steroid use providing permanent long-term effects…but what if myonuclear domain theory comes under scrutiny? That’s exactly where the science is at the moment. As new mechanisms of muscle memory are being explored and the first human data emerges, the picture becomes more complicated. Join us in this fascinating episode as we explore the intersection of muscle physiology, performance-enhancing drug mechanisms, and anti-doping!

00:00 Introduction to an anabolic episode of Iron Culture and Dr Kolliari-Turner

Iron Culture Ep. 29- The Science & History of Steroids (And Drug Testing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=XN7u4-ckZK8 

Kolliari-Turner 2023 An observational human study investigating the effect of anabolic androgenic steroid use on the transcriptome of skeletal muscle and whole blood using RNA-Seq https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37138349/ 

Kolliari-Turner 2021 Analysis of Anti-Doping Rule Violations That Have Impacted Medal Results at the Summer Olympic Games 1968-2012 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33835351/ 

Kolliari-Turner 2021 Doping practices in international weightlifting: analysis of sanctioned athletes/support personnel from 2008 to 2019 and retesting of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33415428/ 

07:42 Myonuclear permanency 

Gundersen 2016 Muscle memory and a new cellular model for muscle atrophy and hypertrophy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26792335/ 

Snijders 2020 The concept of skeletal muscle memory: Evidence from animal and human studies https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32175681/

Yu 2020 Potential effects of long-term abuse of anabolic androgen steroids on human skeletal muscle https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32343079/ 

24:42 Myonuclear domain flexibility?

Murach 2018 Myonuclear Domain Flexibility Challenges Rigid Assumptions on Satellite Cell Contribution to Skeletal Muscle Fiber Hypertrophy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29896117/

Bagley 2023 The myonuclear domain in adult skeletal muscle fibres: past, present and future https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36629254/

31:04 Myonuclear domain theory

36:31 Dr Kolliari-Turner’s research

Doctoral Thesis Anabolic Androgenic Steroid doping in Weightlifting and the Summer Olympic Games alongside their impact on muscle memory and the human transcriptome https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/anabolic-androgenic-steroid-doping-in-weightlifting-and-the-summe

Lima 2023 The MMAAS Project: An Observational Human Study Investigating the Effect of Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Use on Gene Expression and the Molecular Mechanism of Muscle Memory https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35533133/

Smit 2021 Positive and negative side effects of androgen abuse. The HAARLEM study: A one-year prospective cohort study in 100 men https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33038020/

57:05 Other research on past-AAS use and higher myonuclei density

Nielsen 2023 Higher myonuclei density in muscle fibers persists among former users of anabolic androgenic steroids https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37466198/

Eriksson Doctoral Thesis 2006 Strength training and anabolic steroids: a comparative study of the trapezius, a shoulder muscle and the vastus lateralis, a thigh muscle, of strength trained athletes http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A144813&dswid=-2747

1:04:45 The challenges of being enhanced

1:16:14 Closing out the natural podcast