Effects of Acute Stanozolol Treatment on Puberty in Female Rats1

Abstract

The effects of anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse on the onset of puberty in female adolescents are largely unknown. This study assessed the acute effects of one AAS, stanozolol, on pubertal onset in the female rat. A single injection of stanozolol (5 mg/kg) on Postnatal Day (PN) 21 advanced vaginal opening but did not alter the onset of vaginal estrus. Higher doses of stanozolol treatment (10 and 25 mg/kg) also advanced vaginal opening but had no effect on vaginal estrus. The advancement of vaginal opening by stanozolol (5 mg/kg) was prevented by the concomitant administration of the pure antiestrogen ICI 182,780 (1 mg/kg) on PN20-22. Administration of the androgen receptor antagonist flutamide (10 mg/kg twice daily) on PN20-22 had no effect on the advancement of vaginal opening by stanozolol. Stanozolol treatment also advanced vaginal opening in ovariectomized rats. Perivaginal injections of a low dose of stanozolol (0.05 mg) on PN21 and PN23 also advanced vaginal opening. These results suggest that stanozolol is acting directly at estrogen receptors in the vaginal epithelium to advance vaginal opening and that prepubertal stanozolol treatment does not induce true precocious puberty.

Stanozolol regulates proliferation of growth plate chondrocytes via activation of ERα in GnRHa-treated adolescent rats

“…ST increased the MTT value and PCNA expression in cultured growth plate chondrocytes, and these effects were not affected by an AR blocker. Previous studies have found that ST can cause vaginal peripheral precocious puberty of rats and open the vagina prematurely, but it did not interfere the estrous cycle (24) ; this effect can be blocked by the specifi c estrogen receptor inhibitor ICI182.780. It was proposed that in the reproductive tract, ST can activate the estrogen receptor pathway and play a role in inducing peripheral precocious puberty, although it cannot be aromatized to estrogen.…”

The Sturm und Drang of anabolic steroid use: angst, anxiety, and aggression

“…The suppressive effect of stanozolol on aggression in the absence of provocation (Figure 1c) has been observed in both adolescent and adult rats, as well as in adult mice [1,30,31], underscoring the importance of the identity and chemical nature of any individual AAS in its behavioral actions. Although a correlation exists between the relative binding affinities of several AAS to the androgen receptor (AR) and their ability to elicit inter-male aggression, there is no simple relationship between AR affinity, AR binding and behavioral effects [29,32]; the suppressive effects of stanozolol may reflect the actions of this AAS at the estrogen receptor (ER) [33], as much as its low affinity at the AR.…”

The Buzz about Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: Electrophysiological Effects in Excitable Tissues

“…In addition to AR-mediated actions, the AAS can also impose important biological actions via estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and ERβ, either directly (24) or following aromatization (25–28), as well as directly via progestin receptors (29). Beyond their interactions with these classical nuclear hormone signaling pathways, the AAS can elicit rapid effects through interactions with a non-AR/ER microsomal binding site (30), by allosteric regulation of enzymes involved in the biotransformation of steroids (20, 27, 31, 32), and by allosteric modulation of ion channels (33).…”