ABSTRACT
To determine the effects of testosterone (T) on hypertrophy and cardiac function of rats with myocardial infarction (MI), the rats were divided into 3 groups: ie, the sham-operated group (S group), the coronary artery ligating groups with or without the injection of T (MIT and MI group). T level of plasma was tested on all rats, by RIA on1/4, 1, 3, 9, 20 day after operation; then the nuclear profiles per unit area of myocardium N_((n)A) the average nuclear length D_((n)) and the volume fraction of number of myoeytes in the myoeardium V_((m)v) were measured under microscope; The number of myocyte nuclei per unit ovolume of myocardium N_((n)v) and average myocyte cell volume per nucleus V_((m)n) were calculated. The results were as follows: (1) Comparing with S group N_((n)A), N_((n)v) and V_((m)n) in MI had marked changes (P0.05). Of all the mentioned changes were more marked in MIT group than that in MI group. (2) The total plasma concentration of T was correlated with V_((m)n) (r=0.60, P0.05) were not found in MIT rats. These results indicated that T may improve myocardial hypertrophy and promote the recovery of eardial function of MI.