Benefits of aromatase blockers for increased testosterone in poultry: A mini-review

Vet World Vol.18 May-2025 Article - 11

Review Article

Veterinary World, 18(5): 1190-1198

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2025.1190-1198

Rizki Fitrawan Yuneldi¹

, Claude Mona Airin²

, Sarmin Sarmin²

, Andhika Yudha Prawira¹

, and Pudji Astuti²

1. Research Center for Applied Zoology, Research Organization for Life Science and Environment, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, Indonesia.

2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Background and Aim: Testosterone is a key androgenic hormone in male poultry, regulating growth performance, reproductive function, and the development of secondary sexual characteristics. However, endogenous testosterone levels are often diminished through conversion to estrogen through the aromatase enzyme, presenting a physiological constraint in poultry production systems. While synthetic testosterone administration has been employed to overcome this limitation, it is frequently accompanied by adverse effects, including gonadal atrophy and impaired spermatogenesis. Consequently, aromatase blockers have emerged as a promising strategy to enhance testosterone levels by inhibiting estrogen biosynthesis. This review synthesizes current evidence on both synthetic aromatase blockers (SABs), such as letrozole and tamoxifen, and natural aromatase blockers (NAB), including compounds derived from Anadara granosa and Anadara nodifera clamshells, plant extracts, and trace minerals like zinc. The mechanisms, efficacy, physiological effects, and safety profiles of NAB are comparatively examined against SAB. The findings indicate that NAB can significantly elevate testosterone levels and improve reproductive and performance traits without the adverse histopathological effects observed with prolonged SAB or synthetic androgen use. This review highlights the potential of NAB as sustainable alternatives to synthetic hormones in poultry production and recommends further investigations to optimize dosing regimens, elucidate long-term effects, and explore combinatorial strategies.

Keywords: endocrine modulation, natural aromatase blockers, performance enhancement, poultry reproduction, synthetic aromatase blockers, testosterone.

How to cite this article: Yuneldi RF, Airin CM, Sarmin S, Prawira AY, and Astuti P (2025) Benefits of aromatase blockers for increased testosterone in poultry: A mini-review, Veterinary World, 18(5): 1190-1198.

Received: 31-12-2024 Accepted: 11-04-2025 Published online: 17-05-2025

Corresponding author: Pudji Astuti E-mail: pastuti2@ugm.ac.id

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.1190-1198

Copyright: Yuneldi, 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.