Dose-dependent effect and recovery period of albino female rats treated with nandrolone decanoate: ovarian and uterine biometric assessment, fertility and fetal parameters

Abstract

Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), popularly known as anabolic steroids are synthetic drugs derived from testosterone, recommended for the treatment of chronic diseases associated with the catabolic state of the patient. In modern society, due to the cult for the perfect body, men and women make widespread use of AAS with the desire to gain muscle mass in a short period of time. Although well-documented side effects of these drugs to the organism, little attention is still given to their effects on female reproduction, particularly in the morphological structure of the reproductive tract, fertility, and pregnancy outcome, and whether these effects are reversible. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of three doses of the steroid nandrolone decanoate (3.75, 7.5, and 15.0 mg/ kg body weight) in the estrous cycle, ovarian and uterine biometry, fertility, and fetal parameters of albino rats, and to assess whether there is the recovery of the possible reproductive losses after cessation of steroid treatment. The control group will receive a saline solution. For each experimental group is outlined a treatment period (single injection daily, subcutaneously for 15 days) and a recovery period after treatment (30 consecutive days without any treatment). After each period, 5 rats/group will be sacrificed and the ovaries and uterus will be processed through the histological routine for biometric analysis of the ovaries and uterus, and 5 rats/group will be mated with untreated males to evaluate the fertility and pregnancy outcome. The estrous cycle will be monitored daily in each period (treatment and recovery). (AU)