title: Sex-specific effect of the anabolic steroid, 17α-methyltestosterone, on inhibitory avoidance learning in periadolescent rats.
abstract: The illicit use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) has gained popularity among adolescents in the last decade. However, although it is known that exposure to AAS impairs cognition in adult animal models, the cognitive effects during adolescence remain undetermined. An inhibitory avoidance task (IAT) was used to assess the effect of AAS (17α-methyltestosterone; 17α-meT--7.5 mg/kg) in male and female periadolescent rats. A single injection of 17α-meT immediately before the footshock produced significant impairment of inhibitory avoidance learning in males but not females. Generalized anxiety, locomotion, and risk assessment behaviors (RAB) were not affected. Our results show that exposure to a single pharmacological dose of 17α-meT during periadolescence exerts sex-specific cognitive effects without affecting anxiety. Thus, disruption of the hormonal milieu during this early developmental period might have negative impact on learning and memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan 00936, Puerto Rico.
authors.forename: Keyla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ramos-Pratts
authors.forename: Dariana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rosa-González
authors.forename: Nivia L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Pérez-Acevedo
authors.forename: Dahima
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cintrón-López
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Barreto-Estrada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008777:Methyltestosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014621:Vagina / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D008777:Methyltestosterone
keywords: Anabolic androgenic steroids; Anxiety; Cognition; Inhibitory avoidance learning; Periadolescent