Abstract
Spermatogenesis is a complex, highly organized and coordinated process that results in the production of male gametes. This process is influenced by a number of drugs that enhance physical performance, which have been used mainly by young people, athletes or not, seeking to gain athletic performance or only a prominent social position. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the anabolic steroid nandrolone decanoate on the efficiency of spermatogenesis in sedentary rats and rats subjected to physical training. Twenty-four male rats were divided into four experimental groups: sedentary control, sedentary treated, trained control and trained treated. Treated animals received intramuscular injection of nandrolone decanoate (0.5 mg kg-1 body weight) during the last four weeks of physical training. The training program consisted of running on a programmable ergometer treadmill, tailored to train eight rats simultaneously, for nine weeks. We evaluated the morphological and morphoquantitative profiles of the male reproductive system. The results showed that the treatment causes a reduction in the efficiency of spermatogenesis; however, when associated with physical training, this compensates for the anabolic action, keeping the process of spermatogenesis within normality.
Highlights
Androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) are a family of hormones that include testosterone, along with its many synthetic relatives, which show both anabolic – promote an increase of the skeletal muscle mass – Acta Scientiarum
It is noticed that the nandrolone decanoate treatment did not affect the weight of the testes, because there is no significant difference between the values found in groups sedentary control (SCo) and sedentary treated (STr), as well as in groups trained control (TCo) and trained treated (TTr)
Still concerning the results of table 1, but focusing on the effects of physical training, a significant increase is verified in the testicular weight only when the trained groups (TCo and TTr) are compared with the sedentary treated group (STr), because when compared to the sedentary control group (SCo), the values are statistically similar
Summary
Androgenic anabolic steroids (AAS) are a family of hormones that include testosterone, along with its many synthetic relatives, which show both anabolic – promote an increase of the skeletal muscle mass – Acta Scientiarum. 17-22, 2010 with loss of muscle mass (NOORAFSHAN et al., 2005). The anabolic effects of these drugs, called the attention of athletes and gym practitioners and body builders, and came to be improperly employed with the purpose of increasing skeletal muscle mass and improving performance in athletic competitions (NOORAFSHAN et al, 2005; SALAS-RAMIREZ et al, 2008). Several side effects have been already verified in experimental animals treated with AAS and in humans making use of these drugs, such as cardiac problems, alterations of the adrenal gland (TAKAHASHI et al, 2004) and aggressive behaviors (SALAS-RAMIREZ et al, 2008). High doses of AAS affect the estrous cycle and promote histological changes in the ovaries and uterus of female rats (BLASBERG et al, 1997; GEREZ et al, 2005), leading to a suppression of the reproductive capacity
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