Glucocorticoids (GC) are substances widely used in therapy, but sometimes diverted from their primary use by athletes for their ergogenic effects. Whereas the side effects of chronic use of GC are well known, the impact of short treatment remains controversial. We first investigated the effects of 1 week treatment of GC (50-60 mg/day of prednisone/prednisolone) on food intake, body composition, blood glucose, insulinemia, and adipokine secretion in male and female recreationally-trained athletes. For ethical reasons, this study could not be conducted in elite athletes. The adipokines (ie, leptin and adiponectin) appear significantly increased in all subjects after the GC treatment, but the treatment does not induce any change in food intake, body composition or insulin concentrations. There is no gender effect with the exception of hyperglycemia demonstrated with GC only in males. It also appears that the short-term treatment of oral prednisone alters the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis only very transient, with a return to basal levels of cortisol and DHEA only 3 days after of treatment.
