Effect of high concentration of testosterone enanthate on histometrical structure of the adrenal cortex in male rats

Testosterone enanthate (TE) is used by many athletes as a muscle builder. Previous studies showed that high concentration of the drug in plasma may affect the natural function of endocrine glands, specially the secretion of the adrenocortical hormones. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of high concentration of TE on histometrical structure of adrenal cortex in male rats. 120 Charles River rats were equally divided into 5 groups of gonadectomized rats receiving (G+TE), non-gonadectomized rats receiving TE (Sh+TE), gonadectomized rats receiving vehicle (G+S), non-gonadectomized rats receiving vehicle (Sh+S), and the control rats which were neither operated nor received vehicle or drug (CO). The animals were given either 0.5 ml normal saline as vehicle or 5 mg/100 g body weight TE in equal volume of normal saline. Nine weeks after receiving drug or vehicle, serum levels of testosterone were determined, and histometrical studies were performed on tissues from adrenal glands using haematoxylin and eosin staining. There was a significant increase in serum levels of testosterone in G+TE group compared to the CO one. Moreover, the diameters of the nuclei and cells from zona glomerulosa, zona fasciculate and zona reticularis showed a significant increase compared to the CO group. The results indicated that TE has an increasing effect on the nuclei and cell size of the adrenal cortex.