The morphometric effects of testosterone, used as a doping agent, on the humerus and femur of pubescent male and female rats

The aim of this study was to examine the morphometric effects of testosterone on some osteological structures in pubescent rats. For this purpose, 16 male and 16 female rats were allocated equally to control and experimental groups. After calculating the average weight of all rats, testosterone was administered at a dose of 5 mg/kg body weight (bw) by subcutaneous route, 5 days a week for 10 weeks. At the end of the 10th week, all the rats were euthanized; and corpus and height measurements of the femur and humerus, and cortex and cavum medulla morphometric measurements were made. A significant decrease was detected in the corpus femoris and height measurements of the male rats administered with testosterone (P<0.05). However, no significant difference was found for female rats (P>0.05). A significant decrease was determined in the corpus humeri and height measurements of female and male rats administered with testosterone (P<0.05). Statistically significant differences were determined between the femur-humerus and cortexcavum medulla measurements of the testosterone and control groups (p<0.05). In result, testosterone caused some morphometric changes in the extremity bones of pubescent rats included in the experimental group. A parallelism can be drawn between the results of this study and results derived from the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids by young athletes. The results of the present study may contribute to raising awareness among athletes on the adverse effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids.

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