Histological studies on the effect of the androgenic hormone [dehydro-epiandrosterone] on the heart of male rabbit

ABSTRACT

Twenty adult male rabbits of an average weight 1.5 kg were used to study the histological changes in the heart after repeated injections of the therapeutic and double the therapeutic doses of the androgenic hormone [dehydro-epiandrosterone] every other day for one month. The androgenic hormone elicited an apparent marked increase in the average diameter of the cardiac muscle fibers, an increase in their glycogen content, marked widening and congestion of the blood capillaries between them and thickening of the epicardium. In addition, there was an increase in the perivascular collagenous fibers. These changes were more pronounced in animals that received double the therapeutic dose. In animals that received the therapeutic dose, the average diameter of the cardiac muscle fibers was 33 microns compared to that of the control animals which was 16 microns. This represented an increase of 106% of the normal value. While, in animals that received double the therapeutic dose, the average diameter of the cardiac muscle fibers was 50 microns that represented an increase of 213% of the normal value. It can be concluded that it is not recommended to use anabolic steroid hormones by athletes, because it produced a marked widening and congestion of the blood capillaries of the heart