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Nan4.5
Nandrolone (Deca-Durabolin) Research
Too few graded studies
30 peer-reviewed studies
What the evidence says
Too few graded studies
Nandrolone (Deca-Durabolin) doesn't have enough studies with structured effect-size data yet to pool a verdict. Browse the studies below for individual findings.
Most evidence is from high-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 1976–2026 with a typical study size of 30 participants.
Based on 30 studies · 3 meta-analyses · 12 RCTs · 468 total participants
Confidence
High confidence
By outcome
Lean mass & muscle wastingIn HIV-associated wasting and in dialysis patients, RCTs show nandrolone adds lean body mass and improves walking/stair-climbing function · Weeks to months
Too few graded studies13 studies
Hormones & sexual function
Mostly mechanism / observational7 studies
Kidney & dialysis
Too few graded studies6 studies
Safety profile
Mostly mechanism / observational6 studies
Anemia & hematology
Too few graded studies4 studies
Heart & blood pressure
Too few graded studies4 studies
Cholesterol & lipids
Too few graded studies1 study
Active research area
17 studies in the last 5 years · Latest meta-analysis: 2026
197620012026
1Meta-Analysis2022
In plain English: There is limited evidence for efficacious interventions in the peritoneal dialysis and transplant recipient populations.
March DS et al. · Nutrients (2022)
Synthesised data indicated that intradialytic exercise increased hand grip strength (standardised mean difference, 0.58; 0.24 to 0.91; p = 0.0007; I2 = 40%), and sit-to-stand (STS) 60 score (mean difference, 3.74 repetitions; 2.35 to 5.14; p < 0.001; I2 = 0%).
Intradialytic exercise alone, and protein supplementation alone, resulted in no statistically significant change in STS5 (−0.78 s; −1.86 to 0.30; p = 0.16; I2 = 0%), and STS30 (MD, 0.97 repetitions; −0.16 to 2.10; p = 0.09; I2 = 0%) performance, respectively.
For secondary outcomes, L-carnitine and nandrolone-decanoate resulted in significant increases in muscle quantity in the dialysis population.
Chowdhury MS, Banks AJ, Bond WH, Jones WG, Ward HW · Clin Oncol (1976)
No plain-language summary recorded for this citation — open the paper to read its abstract.
4RCT1988
Drosos AA, van Vliet-Dascalopoulou E, Andonopoulos AP, Galanopoulou V, Skopouli FN, Moutsopoulos HM · Clin Exp Rheumatol (1988)
No plain-language summary recorded for this citation — open the paper to read its abstract.
5RCT1981
Spiers AS, DeVita SF, Allar MJ, Richards S, Sedransk N · J Med (1981)
No plain-language summary recorded for this citation — open the paper to read its abstract.
6RCT1996
· GMHC Treat Issues (1996)
No plain-language summary recorded for this citation — open the paper to read its abstract.
7Systematic Review2021
In plain English: There is currently insufficient evidence for effective interventions to ameliorate changes in muscle function/quantity in hospitalised older adults.
Welch C et al. · Age and ageing (2021)
However, all studies exhibited at least some concerns for overall risk of bias, and considering inconsistencies of effect sizes across studies, certainty around true effect sizes is limited.
There is currently insufficient evidence for effective interventions to ameliorate changes in muscle function/quantity in hospitalised older adults.
Multiple interventions have been safely trialled in heterogeneous populations across different settings.
In plain English: Although nandrolone decanoate modestly increases LST, this was not accompanied by improvements in handgrip strength or consistently observed improvements in BMD, and functional outcomes were informed by limited trial data.
Prokopidis K et al. · Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle (2026)
Nandrolone decanoate significantly increased LST (k = 11; MD: 1.59 kg, 95% CI 1.06-2.13, p < 0.01, I2 = 0%) but had no effect on fat mass (k = 11; SMD: -0.04, p = 0.65), handgrip strength (k = 12; SMD: 0.39, p = 0.10) or knee extension strength (k = 1; p = 0.99).
BMD outcomes were inconsistent, with only total proximal femur BMD showing improvement (p < 0.05).
Although nandrolone decanoate modestly increases LST, this was not accompanied by improvements in handgrip strength or consistently observed improvements in BMD, and functional outcomes were informed by limited trial data.
In plain English: These data could prove useful to healthcare professionals in both sports and clinical settings.
Patanè FG et al. · Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) (2020)
After applying the exclusion and inclusion criteria, from a total of 766 articles, only 148 were considered eligible for the study.
Conclusions: Based on the result of our study, the most common adverse effects secondary to the abuse of nandrolone decanoate (ND) involve the endocrine, cardiovascular, skin, and psychiatric systems.
These data could prove useful to healthcare professionals in both sports and clinical settings.
In plain English: Nandrolone decanoate was associated with increased lean body mass in adults with CKD.
Câmara LC et al. · Endocrine (2026)
Nandrolone decanoate was associated with increased lean body mass (4 trials; n = 125; MD 2.63 kg, 95% CI 1.60-3.65).
Pooled estimates for hemoglobin (6 trials; n = 239; MD 0.81 g/dL) and hematocrit (7 trials; n = 198; MD 3.12%) also favored nandrolone, but were limited by substantial heterogeneity and very low certainty of evidence, precluding firm conclusions.
However, the evidence base is largely historical, and substantial heterogeneity and very low certainty of evidence preclude firm conclusions regarding hematologic benefits.
In plain English: Regular caloric intake combined with nandrolone therapy significantly enhances weight, BMI, and LBM in cancer cachexia patients.
James A et al. · International journal of pharmaceutical compounding (2025)
Patients with regular caloric intake showed significant improvements: weight increased by 13.0% (vs. 4.3% in irregular group), BMI rose from 18.46 to 20.82 (vs. 18.47 to 19.24), and LBM increased from 83.40 to 86.16 (vs. 83.40 to 83.76).
All changes were statistically significant (p<0.05).
Regular caloric intake combined with nandrolone therapy significantly enhances weight, BMI, and LBM in cancer cachexia patients.
12Review2024
In plain English: Therefore, further research is necessary to better understand the effects of AAS on the body, and to expand our currently incomplete knowledge of their functional pathways.
Borecki R et al. · Endokrynologia Polska (2024)
Trenbolone, like other AASs, are harmful, with 90% of users experiencing injurious side effects.
The drugs are also subject to contamination, with use frequently resulting in local inflammation at the injection site, muscle adhesions and fibrosis, nerve damage or, in extreme cases, necrosis of the injection site.
Additionally, due to the lack of available knowledge on the subject, many of the effects of trenbolone use remain unknown.
In plain English: This review suggests a practical and pragmatic approach towards ensuring safe and smart usage of nandrolone in glucosarcopenia management.
Kalra S et al. · JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association (2025)
Caused by various factors, including poor glucose control, as well as some glucoselowering therapies, sarcopenia negatively impacts quality of life and long-term health.
Nandrolone, or 19- nortestosterone, is a selective anabolic receptor modulator (SARM), classified as an anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS).
A review of its pharmacological properties suggests that it may be used as therapy for sarcopenia, along with medical nutrition therapy and resistance exercise training.
In plain English: Future trials should distinguish prevention from reversal and use factorial or rigorously standardized exercise designs with prespecified strength, muscle-mass, physical-performance, and pathway endpoints.
Lim DJ et al. · Calcified tissue international (2026)
Bisphosphonates and teriparatide have preclinical or secondary signals; romosozumab and abaloparatide lack direct clinical muscle-efficacy evidence.
Nandrolone is retained only as a historical positive control.
Future trials should distinguish prevention from reversal and use factorial or rigorously standardized exercise designs with prespecified strength, muscle-mass, physical-performance, and pathway endpoints.
In plain English: The potential of orexigenic (eg, ghrelin) and anabolic (eg, nandrolone) hormones in the post-ICU phase warrants further investigation.
Weimann A et al. · Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (2026)
Given the prevalence of post-intensive care syndrome, nutrition therapy and monitoring must continue into the post-ICU period.
Combined strategies-rather than isolated interventions-provide the most plausible framework to support LM recovery during ICU care and throughout post-ICU rehabilitation.
The potential of orexigenic (eg, ghrelin) and anabolic (eg, nandrolone) hormones in the post-ICU phase warrants further investigation.
In plain English: This study results showed preservation of lean body mass and protein partition, as well as the near normal nitrogen balance in burn patients.
Ali YH et al. · Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn Injuries (2022)
This study results showed preservation of lean body mass and protein partition, as well as the near normal nitrogen balance in burn patients.
Study proposes that nandrolone decanoate could be used in safe and effective way to combat hypercatabolic impact in burn injury.
In plain English: Our findings indicate that nandrolone decanoate elongates telomeres in patients with telomeropathies, which correlated with clinical improvement in some cases and tolerable adverse events.
Clé DV et al. · Haematologica (2023)
Ten of 13 evaluable patients (77%) showed telomere elongation at 12 months by flow-fluorescence in situ hybridization (average increase, 0.87 kb; 95% confidence interval: 0.20-1.55 kb; P=0.01).
At 24 months, all ten evaluable patients showed telomere elongation (average increase, 0.49 kb; 95% confidence interval: 0.24-1.23 kb; P=0.18).
Hematologic response was achieved in eight of 16 patients (50%) with marrow failure at 12 months, and in ten of 16 patients (63%) at 24 months.
In plain English: Indeed, AAS use has been shown to change physiological cardiac remodeling of athletes to pathophysiological cardiac hypertrophy with an increased risk of life-threatening arrhythmias.
Torrisi M et al. · Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) (2020)
Results: Of the 33 cases, 31 (93.9%) were males while only 2 (61%) were females.
The most frequently reported macroscopic alterations were cardiomegaly and left ventricular hypertrophy, while the histological alterations were foci of fibrosis and necrosis of the myocardial tissue.
Conclusions: Four principal mechanisms responsible for SCD have been proposed in AAS abusers: the atherogenic model, the thrombosis model, the model of vasospasm induced by the release of nitric oxide, and the direct myocardial injury model.
Kalra S et al. · The Journal of the Association of Physicians of India (2025)
Furthermore, experts emphasized the importance of a multimodal approach, integrating resistance exercise, nutritional optimization, and emerging pharmacological therapies for effective sarcopenia treatment.
The role of anabolic agents such as nandrolone decanoate in muscle preservation is explored, alongside considerations for patient selection and safety.