MESO-Rx Exclusive Unique characteristics of oxandrolone

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MESO-Rx is pleased to announce part 7 in @Type-IIx 's ongoing series about the unique effects of various different anabolic steroids with today's article focusing on oxandrolone. Oxandrolone (Anavar) is a mild anabolic steroid known for reducing abdominal fat, enhancing strength via creatine synthesis, and anticatabolic effects through AR-GR crosstalk. While well-tolerated, it poses dyslipidemic risks.

 
Great read as usual!

A few questions:

1) Regarding creatine synthesis - Does supplementing creatine while on Var multiply (or at least increase and/or feed) the increased synthesis mechanism?

2) I have always split Var daily dosages 1/2 AM,1/2 PM AND taken each with a small amount of coffee which research has shown to increase effects. Is there a recommended protocol based on your research?

3) Does Var as a pre-workout only (only on workout days) make sense from a strength/fat burning standpoint and would this approach minimize negative lipid consequences? Trade-off is my guess but I have never experimented.
 
BOOM! Article dropped! Thanks, @Millard!
Awesome. I'm assuming there is a dose-response for the ab fat effect; is it 'optimised' at 20-40mg per day?
Oxandrolone at 20 mg daily decreased visceral adipose tissue (-20.9 +/- 12 cm(2); P < 0.001), abdominal sc adipose tissue (SAT) declined (-10.7 +/- 12.1 cm(2); P = 0.043), the ratio VAT/SAT declined from 0.57 +/- 0.23 to 0.49 +/- 0.19 (P = 0.002), and proximal and distal thigh SC fat declined [-8.3 +/- 6.7 cm(2) (P < 0.001) and -2.2 +/- 3.0 kg (P = 0.004), respectively].

Oxandrolone at 10 mg daily for 7 days increased fasting 3-hydroxybutyrate [a marker for hepatic ketogenesis] by 70% and 3-hydroxybutyrate AUC by 53% after oral fat loading.

We know that AR dose/response is logarithmic and according to Forbes, 1985, doses up to 1,000 mg/w are not S-shaped (sigmoidal function), but if an androgen's sole mechanism is AR agonism, then an inflection point should occur at some point > 1,000 mg/w [that has never been directly measured].

Since this effect on fat mass is mediated by hepatic ketogenesis via oxandrolone effects on triaglycerol lipase, and the doses used are low, we can't infer or assume the shape of the dose/response curve without more data.

That is to say, that while 20 - 40 mg daily is a rough optimization of tolerability/efficacy trade-offs, considering muscle protein anabolism via the AR activity that is bounded by inherent hepatotoxicity of oxandrolone, we cannot say that hepatic ketogenesis does not continue unabated at higher doses.

But practically, since hepatic ketogenesis is directly related to HTGLA (the breakdown of lipoproteins from larger to smaller more atherosclerotic ones), we need to balance the benefit vs. the dyslipidemic cost.
 
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