title: Hepatotoxicity of androstenedione in pregnant rats.
abstract: Androstenedione, a naturally occurring steroid hormone, is a dietary supplement used to enhance athletic performance. Little is known, however, about the safety of its use by young adults including women of child bearing age. To test the possible hepatotoxic effects of androstenedione use, this study was undertaken using a rat model. Pregnant rats (six rats/dose) were exposed to androstenedione in corn oil by gastric intubation at 0, 5, 30 or 60 mg/kg body weight/day beginning 2 weeks before mating and continuing through gestation day 19. On gestation day 20, blood and livers were collected from the pregnant rats for analysis of hepatotoxicity endpoints: serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutathione (GSH) and glutathione S-transferase (GST), total microsomal P450, nuclear DNA damage and lipid peroxidation. Under these experimental conditions, no significant differences were observed in any of these biomarkers over the concentration range examined.
authors.affiliation: Division of Toxicology, Office of Applied Research and Safety Assessment, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, MOD-1 Laboratories, 8301 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA. ssahu@cfsan.rda.gov
authors.forename: Saura C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Sahu
authors.forename: Philip P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Sapienza
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Sprando
authors.forename: Thomas F X
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Ivan A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.forename: Paddy L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Wiesenfeld
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: Chung S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D000735:Androstenedione / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012449:Safety
chemical_list: D000735:Androstenedione; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D005982:Glutathione Transferase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase; D005978:Glutathione