Vet World Vol.15 March-2022 Article-11
Research Article
Veterinary World, 15(3): 627-633
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.627-633
Effects of testosterone and exercise training on bone microstructure of rats
2. Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), Inov4Agro, Vila Real, Portugal.
3. Department of Zootechnics, School of Sciences and Technology, Évora, Portugal.
4. Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC), Évora, Portugal.
5. iBIMED, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro (UA), Aveiro, Portugal.
6. LAQV-Associated Laboratory for Green Chemistry (REQUIMTE), Department of Chemistry, UA, Aveiro, Portugal.
7. Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.
8. Animal and Veterinary Research Center (CECAV), Vila Real, Portugal.
Background and Aim: Male hypogonadism results from failure to produce physiological levels of testosterone. Testosterone in men is essential in masculine development, sperm production, and adult man's health. Osteoporosis is one of the consequences of hypogonadism. Regular physical exercise and exogenous testosterone administration are frequently used to prevent or treat this condition. This study aimed to understand the effects of lifelong exercise training and testosterone levels (isolated and together) in the main bone structure parameters.
Materials and Methods: A total of 24 rats were used and randomly divided into four groups: Control group (CG; n=6), exercised group (EG, n=6), testosterone group (TG, n=6), and testosterone EG (TEG, n=6). A micro-computed tomography equipment was used to evaluate 15 bone parameters.
Results: Both factors (exercise training and testosterone) seem to improve the bone resistance and microstructure, although in different bone characteristics. Testosterone influenced trabecular structure parameters, namely, connectivity density, trabecular number, and trabecular space. The exercise promoted alterations in bone structure as well, although, in most cases, in different bone structure parameters as bone mineral density and medullar mineral density.
Conclusion: Overall, exercise and testosterone therapy seems to have a synergistic contribution to the general bone structure and resistance. Further studies are warranted, comparing different individual factors, as gender, lifestyle, or testosterone protocols, to constantly improve the medical management of hypogonadism (and osteoporosis). Keywords: bone, exercise training, hypogonadism, micro-computed tomography, osteoporosis, testosterone.
Keywords: bone, exercise training, hypogonadism, micro-computed tomography, osteoporosis, testosterone.
How to cite this article: Jota-Baptista C, Faustino-Rocha AI, Fardilha M, Ferreira R, Oliveira PA, Regueiro-Purriños M, Rodriguez-Altonaga JA, Gonzalo-Orden JM, Ginja M (2022) Effects of testosterone and exercise training on bone microstructure of rats, Veterinary World, 15(3): 627-633.
Received: 07-10-2021 Accepted: 08-02-2022 Published online: 22-03-2022
Corresponding author: Ana I. Faustino-Rocha E-mail: anafaustino.faustino@sapo.pt
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.627-633
Copyright: Jota-Baptista, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.