Effects of nandrolone decanoate on lean body mass and anemia in adults with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Studied

A full-text systematic review and meta-analysis combined randomized trials of intramuscular nandrolone decanoate versus placebo, standard care, erythropoietin, exercise or other controls in adults with chronic kidney disease.

Who / model

Fifteen trials included adults across dialysis and pre-dialysis settings. Four lean-mass trials included 125 participants, six hemoglobin trials included 239 and seven hematocrit trials included 198; treatment lasted 12 weeks to 12 months.

Studied dose & schedule

Dose and schedule have not yet been extracted for this summary.

Found

Across four trials, nandrolone increased lean body mass by 2.63 kg versus controls. Hemoglobin and hematocrit estimates favored nandrolone, but heterogeneity and very low certainty prevented firm conclusions. Quality-of-life findings were inconsistent, and androgenic, liver-enzyme and lipid effects were reported.

Limits

Evidence was largely historical, most studies had bias concerns, patient-centered outcomes were sparse, and long-term safety data were limited.

Read summary source ↗ · Prepared 9/22/2026 · AI-assisted, source-based summary