Effects of Estrogen and Exercise Stress on Adrenal Glands of Male Rats

Abstract

Consciously done exercises are beneficial for human health. However, unconscious and wrong practices (medication use, etc…) can cause various injuries and permanent damage to the human body. For reasons such as increasing muscle mass and/or to getting more performance, taking steroid hormones disrupts overall body hormone balance. Effects of exercise on oxygen and energy metabolism and estrogen as an exogenous steroid have significant effects on the adrenal gland. The aim of this study was to see the effects of 17b-estradiol on surrenal glands of rats that is put through regular physical exercises.
 36 male Sprague-Dawley rats between the weights 220-250 gr, were put into thermal-controlled room with day-night cycles to stimulate an optimal day for the subjects. The experiment was modeled by dividing 36 animals into 6 groups in total according to the control, exercising and estrogen administration criteria. Experimental group animals received daily doses of 10 μg/kg/day 17-β-estradiol during 30 days. Also exercises group animals ran at 20 m/min on a 15% grade for 90 minutes and rest 34 minutes. Then, TUNNEL and Hematoxylen & Eosin staining were performed to measure the damage on the adrenal glands.
 In group 2, dense presence of degenerative fibroblasts and inflammatuary cells infiltration in zona fasciculata were significantly different. In group 3, the degenerative areas were significant in all adrenal cortex zones. In group 4, necrotic areas were determined in zona reticularis. In group 5, zona fasciculata was severely degenerated. With group 6, Sinusoidal features were completely lost in zona reticularis. The results strongly show that exercise may affect the zona glomerulase in short time period. As a result, exposure to exercise and exercise stress with external administration of estradiol may cause cellular degeneration especially zona fasciculata and zona reticularis in the adrenal gland.