Background/Aims: Stress had been related to physiological and morphological alterations in different organs, however kidney morphology and function after stress conditions are not well-known. To evaluate the effects of chronic stress on renal morphology in prepubertal and adult rats, and to investigate if the effects of induced stress remain stable or worsen following removal of the stress stimuli. Methods: Forty prepubertal rats (4 weeks old) and thirty six adult rats (10 weeks old) were used. Each age group was divided a into control group and a stressed group. Stressed animals were restrained in rigid tubes 2 hours per day for 6 weeks. Animals were euthanized 24 hours after the last stress stimulus for immediate evaluation (50% of the groups), and 6 weeks after the last stress stimulus for late evaluation (50% of the groups). Kidney weight and volume, cortical-medullar ratio, glomerular volumetric density, volume-weighted glomerular volume, and number of glomeruli per kidney were evaluated using the Image J software. Results: Prepubertal stressed animals showed reduced kidney weight and volume, and increased cortical-medullar ratio in comparison to its control group when evaluated immediately. Furthermore, stressed prepubertal and adult animals evaluated immediately had reduced glomerular volumetric density. Most importantly, all stressed groups exhibited reduced number of glomeruli per kidney. Other analyzed parameters did not difeer significantly the groups. Conclusion: Chronic stress induced before and after puberty led to irreversible glomerular loss, however, renal impairment was interrupted by removal of the stress stimuli.

Purpose To evaluate the immediate and late effects of nandrolone on femur morphology of rats. Methods Twenty-eight animals with 20 weeks of age were divided into four groups: C28, control animals that were euthanized eight weeks after the experiment started; C40, control animals euthanized 20 weeks after the experiment started; T28, treated animals receiving nandrolone during eight weeks and euthanized immediately after the treatment period; and T40, animals treated during eight weeks and euthanized 12 weeks after the end of the treatment. Treated animals received nandrolone decanoate during eight weeks and control groups received peanut oil by intramuscular injection. After euthanasia, femurs were removed, dissected, weighted and measured by digital pachymeter. Results The T40 group presented an increase on distal epiphysis diameter when compared to C40 group. There was no difference between treated and control groups in relation to body and femur absolute weight, relative weight and length of femur. There was also no difference in relation to diameter of proximal epiphysis and diameter of diaphysis among the groups. Conclusions Nandrolone decanoate does not produce significant effect on femur, exception on its distal extremity at late period. The effects of such drug may depend on the time after administration.

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Background and objectiveThe anabolic androgen steroids are indiscriminately used and in high doses by amateurs and professional athletes. Although its effects on different organs are well known, few is reported regarding the testicular morphological effects (both immediate and late) of these steroids. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of supraphysiologic doses of nandrolone decanoate on the testicular morphology of rats; and investigate if these effects would be transitory or permanent.MethodsTwenty‐eight adult male Wistar rats were assigned into four groups. For eight weeks, control groups received placebo (oleaginous vehicle) injections while treated groups received nandrolone decanoate (10mg/Kg, intramuscularly, once a week). Groups control‐immediate (CI) and treated‐immediate (TI) were killed one week after the last injection. Groups control‐late (CL) and treated‐late (TL) were killed after 12 weeks from the last injection. Body weight, testicular weight and volume were measured. The testicle was processed for histomorphometrical analysis, and epithelium height and tubular area were obtained. Data was compared by Student's t test considering p<0.05 as significant.ResultsNo difference was observed regarding body weight. Also, testicular weight and volume was similar among groups TI and CI. However, group TL showed a reduction of 44% and 48% in testicular weight and volume, respectively, in comparison to CL. The tubular area was reduced in both TI (by 22%) and TL (by 46%), in comparison to their control groups. Further, epithelium height was reduced by 9% in group TI.ConclusionThe use of supraphysiologic doses of nandrolone decanoate promotes testicular morphological alterations in rats. These alterations are not reversible after discontinuing the treatment and may cause permanent subfertility.Support or Funding InformationFAPERJ, CNPq, CAPESThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

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