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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Morphological Sciences 2019; 36(01): 002-006
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1681110
Original Article
Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Effects of Supraphysiological Doses of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids on the Left Ventricles of Male and Female Mice Submitted to Swimming

Laís Cristina Teodoro Jerônimo
1   Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
,
Priscila Franco
1   Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
,
Petrus Pires Marques
2   Departament of Morphology, Universidade José Vellano, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
,
Flávia da Ré Guerra
3   Department of Anatomy, Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
,
Wagner Costa Rossi Junior
3   Department of Anatomy, Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
,
Alessandra Esteves
3   Department of Anatomy, Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

22 August 2018

28 January 2019

Publication Date:
01 March 2019 (online)

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Abstract

The use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has grown into a worldwide substance abuse problem over the last decades, with the doses taken by illegal users being 10 to 100 times higher than the therapeutic ones. In the present experiment, 60 mice were divided into 3 groups of 20 animals. Group 1 received testosterone cypionate (Deposteron [EMS, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil]); group 2 received stanozolol (Stanozolol Depot, Landerlan, Lambaré, Paraguay), and group 3 received saline solution), each one composed by 10 males and 10 females, treated once a week and put to swimming thrice a week for 2 months. After euthanasia, their chests were opened, the hearts removed and processed histologically for morphometric analyses. The specimens were cut into 6 different sections and each one was measured with the help of an optical microscope with a 40-fold magnification. For such analyses, the Axiovision Rel. 4.8.2 (Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC, Peabody, MA, USA) and Axiovision 4 Module Interactive Measurement (Carl Zeiss Microscopy LLC) software were used. The results showed that there was an increase in the diameter of the left ventricles in the male mice treated with Deposteron while in the female animals treated with Winstrol, there was a decrease in the left ventricular diameter in relation to the other two groups. Thus, one can conclude that the use of supraphysiological doses of the given AAS significantly alters the ventricular diameter in both male and female animals, which can cause a considerable change in both heart rate and blood pressure, and potentially induce disorders that are very relevant to the organism.

Keywords

anabolic steroids - left ventricle - mice - morphometric analysis

Financial Support

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG, in the Portuguese acronym)/UNIFAL-MG


 

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