Modulation of Affect After Chronic Exposure to the Anabolic Steroid 17α-Methyltestosterone in Adult Mice.

Abstract

A battery of behavioral tasks in C57BL/6J mice was used to assess changes in affective components of behavior after systemic exposure to the anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) 17alpha-methyltestosterone (7.5 mg/kg). Gonadal weight in both sexes was reduced after 16 days of AAS exposure. Changes in discrete components of social behaviors were observed. No changes were recorded in the elevated plus-maze, the light-dark transition, and defensive behavior tests on exposure to 17alpha-methyltestosterone. When compared with controls, AAS-exposed females received a greater number of shocks, and AAS-exposed males displayed a shorter recovery time to consume water after a negative reinforcer in the modified Vogel conflict test. Results show that systemic exposure to a single AAS modified social behaviors, whereas minimal effects on anxiety-related behaviors were observed according to sex.

Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Modulation of Forebrain GABAergic Transmission has a Pivotal Role in the Expression of Anabolic Steroid-Induced Anxiety in the Female Mouse

“…Interestingly, human subjects have reported both transient euphoria and hypomania early in the course of AAS administration (Pope and Katz, 1994;Thiblin and Petersson, 2005;Basaria, 2010), and higher levels of anxiety with prolonged, chronic use (Cooper et al, 1996;Galligani et al, 1996;Hall and Chapman, 2005;Pagonis et al, 2006). Consistent with the multiplicity of effects on anxiety observed in humans who self-administer these drugs, treatment of rodents with AAS has also been reported to elicit anxiolytic/diminished fear responses (Bitran et al, 1993;Å gren et al, 1999;Barreto-Estrada et al, 2004;Steensland et al, 2005;Frye et al, 2008b;Kouvelas et al, 2008), anxiogenic/enhanced fear responses (Rocha et al, 2007;Agis-Balboa et al, 2009;Ambar and Chiavegatto, 2009;Costine et al, 2010), or minimal observable effects on anxiety-like behaviors (Rojas-Ortiz et al, 2005). The plethora of effects on anxiety-like behaviors is likely to reflect not only the temporal chronology in the exposure to AAS (transient vs prolonged exposure), but also a complex matrix of interactions that include, age, sex, the genetic and the social background of the subjects, and the interface of these factors with the types of AAS taken and the paradigms of their administration (Clark and Henderson, 2003;Clark et al, 2006;Pinna et al, 2008).…”

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

“…Treatment of adult female mice with a high dose of 17α-methyltestosterone was reported to have no effect on anxiety-like behaviors on the elevated plus-maze, light–dark transitions or defensive behavior tests [23], whereas treatment of female mice during adolescence with a mixture of AAS (methandrostenolone, nandrolone decanoate and testosterone cypionate) significantly increased anxiety-like behavior as determined by the acoustic startle response and the elevated plus-maze [24,25]. Interestingly exposure to a chronic low dose of testosterone propionate increased contextual fear responses in female mice, but only if these mice had been previously subjected to social isolation [26].…”

Mad men, women and steroid cocktails: a review of the impact of sex and other factors on anabolic androgenic steroids effects on affective behaviors

“…In contrast, a briefer (16 day) treatment of adult female mice with a high dose of a single AAS (17α-methyltestosterone) was reported to have no effect on anxiety-like behaviors as measured on the EPM, light-dark transitions, or defensive behavior tests (Barreto-Estrada et al 2004; Table 1). Similarly, a single exposure to 17α-methyltestosterone did not increase anxiety-like behaviors in adult female mice (Oberlander et al 2012c; Table 1).…”