The effects of high doses of nandrolone decanoate and exercise on prostate microvasculature of adult and older rats

Effects of Nandrolone Decanoate on Skeletal Muscle and Neuromuscular Junction of Sedentary and Exercised Rats

Background and Objectives: Nandrolone decanoate (ND) is the most widely used among the anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), synthetic substances derived from testosterone, to improve muscular and health gains associated with exercises. The AAS leads to physical performance enhancement and presents anti-aging properties, but its abuse is associated with several adverse effects. Supraphysiological doses of AAS with or without physical exercise can cause morphological and functional alterations in neuromuscular interactions. This study aims to investigate the effects of ND supraphysiological doses in neuromuscular interactions, focusing on the soleus muscle and its neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) in rats, associated or not with physical exercise. Materials and Methods: Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups: sedentary and exercised groups, with or without ND at the dose of 10 mg/kg/week. The animals were treated for eight weeks, with intramuscular injections, and the soleus muscle was collected for morphological analyses. Results: The supraphysiological doses of ND in the sedentary group caused muscle degeneration, evidenced by splitting fibers, clusters of small fibers, irregular myofibrils, altered sarcomeres, an increase in collagen deposition and in the number of type I muscle fibers (slow-twitch) and central nuclei, as well as a decrease in fibers with peripheral nuclei. On the other hand, in the ND exercise group, there was an increase in the NMJs diameter with scattering of its acetylcholine receptors, although no major morphological changes were found in the skeletal muscle. Thus, the alterations caused by ND in sedentary rats were partially reversed by physical exercise. Conclusions: The supraphysiological ND exposure in the sedentary rats promoted an increase in muscle oxidative pattern and adverse morphological alterations in skeletal muscle, resulting from damage or post-injury regeneration. In the ND-exercised rats, no major morphological changes were found. Thus, the physical exercise partially reversed the alterations caused by ND in sedentary rats.

Exposure to aluminium chloride during the peripuberal period induces prostate damage in male rats

Aluminium (Al) is an important metal, but it can be toxic including for prostate tissue. This study aimed to evaluate whether exposure to aluminium chloride (AlCl3) during the peripubertal period affects ventral prostate development in rats. Male Wistar rats (30 days old) were distributed into three experimental groups: control (sterile 0.9% saline solution), AL7 (7 mg AlCl3/kg) and AL34 (34 mg AlCl3/kg). Animals were treated intraperitoneally from postnatal day (PND) 36-66 (peripubertal period). At PND67, the animals were anaesthetized and euthanized. Blood was collected for testosterone levels. The ventral prostate (VP) was removed, weighed and processed for histochemistry and immunohistochemistry to detect androgen (AR) and Ki67. Stereological and histopathological analyses, mast cell counts, and determinations of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and N-acetyl glycosidase (NAG) activity and IL-6 levels were performed. The AL34 group presented a reduction in body weight and increase in MPO activity compared to the other groups. In both the AL7 and AL34 groups, there was reorganization of the prostatic tissue compartments. There was no significant difference in prostate weight, number of granulated or degranulated mast cells, or testosterone levels. In conclusion, the exposure to aluminium chloride during the peripubertal period impairs the prostatic development.

Nandrolone decanoate and resistance exercise training favor the occurrence of lesions and activate the inflammatory response in the ventral prostate

Age is a key factor in the development of prostatic lesions. An increase in reactive oxygen species levels occurs during aging. Furthermore, the indiscriminate use of anabolic androgenic steroids and physical exercise alter the availability of hormones and may promote the appearance of lesions. This study examined whether the use of nandrolone decanoate (ND), associated or not with resistance exercise training, affects the pathways related to the inflammatory response in the ventral prostate of adult and aged rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed into eight experimental groups: sedentary with ND, sedentary without ND, exercise with ND, and exercise without ND. The animals performed resistance exercise training and received ND two times/week (5 mg/kg, i.m.) for 8 weeks. Adult rats were killed immediately following treatment completion, and aged rats remained untreated until reaching 300 days of age. The adult animals that received ND and performed resistance exercise training showed a higher occurrence of lesions with TLR4 activation. Marked IL-6 expression occurred in the group that performed resistance exercise training. The group exposed to ND showed overexpression of TLR2, TLR4, NOX1, Nrf2, TNF-α, and P38MAPK. The animals that received ND and performed training showed increase levels of NFκB, IRF3, IL-6, TNF-α, and NOX1. TLR2 and TLR4 showed no upregulation in the aged animals. The groups exercise + ND showed lesions in the adult stage and after aging, followed by molecular alterations. We concluded that nandrolone decanoate and resistance exercise training can promote the onset of prostatic tumors in the adult stage, and during aging, activating pathways involved in the inflammatory response.