A comparative study to investigate the effect of Testosterone enanthate and Nandrolonedecanoate administration on testicular tissue and spermatogenesis coefficients in rats

Sexually differentiating traits in males, the emergence of primary and secondary sexual traits and numerous systemic effects are controlled by the hormone testosterone, therefore testosterone and its various esters, including enanthate, are produced and supplied for medicinal, livestock and even sports purposes. Nandrolone has many similarities to testosterone in terms of its chemical structure, and nandrolone decanoate, a long acting ester, is more effective than nandrolone. On the other hand, the adverse effects of androgen abuse, such as suppression of spermatogenesis and testicular atrophy, can be seen in the long term. The similarities of these two drugs and their uses and the adverse effects of their abuse was the main reason to investigate and compare the effect of testosterone enanthate and nandrolone decanoate administration on testicular tissue and spermatogenesis coefficients in rats. For this purpose, 21 adult male rats were randomly allocated into 3 groups of control (without drug injection), treatment with nandrolone decanoate (10 mg/kg per week) and treatment with testosterone enanthate (5 mg/100 g per week). After 8 weeks,  tissue samples prepared from the testicles of rats were stained with hematoxylin-eosin  and subjected to histopathological study. The results showed that both drugs had a significant adverse effect on the diameter and height of the epithelium of the seminiferous tubules and the thickness of the interstitial tissue of the testis. Also, the coefficients of spermatogenesis, including tubular differentiation coefficient, spermiogenesis coefficient and regeneration coefficient, were negatively affected by both drugs, although, only the effect of testosterone enanthate was significant (p<0.05). Overall, the administration of anabolic steroids leads to numerous histopathological changes in the male reproductive system.