Nandrolone decanoate administration elevates hippocampal prodynorphin mRNA expression and impairs Morris water maze performance in male rats.
The misuse of anabolic androgenic steroids has in several reports been associated with effects resulting in altered behavior. This study used the Morris water maze task to investigate the effect of high doses of the anabolic androgenic steroid nandrolone on spatial learning and memory in male rats. During the experiment, we observed a significantly impaired Morris water maze performance in the nandrolone-treated rats compared with controls. The hippocampus, a brain region associated with cognitive function, was analyzed for mRNA expression of prodynorphin, the precursor of dynorphinergic peptides. The results indicated that the transcription levels of prodynorphin were significantly elevated in the animals treated with nandrolone compared with controls. Thus, the findings suggest that administration of nandrolone to male rats impairs memory function, possibly via dynorphinergic actions.
Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Division of Biological Research on Drug Dependence, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Kristina
K
Magnusson
Anders
A
Hånell
Igor
I
Bazov
Fredrik
F
Clausen
Qin
Q
Zhou
Fred
F
Nyberg
D045930:Anabolic Agents / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D009277:Nandrolone / Q000633:toxicity*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
D045930:Anabolic Agents; D004745:Enkephalins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D009277:Nandrolone; C033660:preproenkephalin