Effect of Anabolic Steroids on Craniofacial Growth and Development in Rats

Abstract

Primary testosterone and its derivatives are anabolic steroids that are used in the treatment of osteoporosis and Turner syndrome. They also enhance first-twitch muscle weight in female rats.
I evaluated the effect of an anabolic steroid on craniofacial growth and development in rats. One hundred and twenty 5-week-old female Sprague Dawley rats were divided into experimental and control groups. Rats in the experimental group were injected subcutaneously with 1 mg nandrolone phenylpropionate in the inter scapular region on alternate days, while those in the control group were injected with a vehicle, arachis oil. The rats were sacrificed by chloroform at 60 and 120 days of age.
Soft X-rays and cephalometric analysis showed that chronic administration of the anabolic steroid, nandrolone phenylpropionate, resulted in 1) about 20% increase in body weight, 2) an increase in total skull length, 3) elongation of the maxillary and mandibular incisors, 4) an increase in the depth of the anti-gonial notch, and 5) downward-forward growth of the viscerocranium against the neurocranium.
These results suggest that nandrolone phenylpropionate accelerates craniofacial growth and development in rats.