How Does Androstenedione Affect Mice?

Androstenedione is a performance enhancing steroid and a direct precursor to the hormone testosterone. It has been shown to increase muscle formation as well as masculinization. However due to dangerous side effects the Food and Drug Administration banned the inclusion of androstenedione in human dietary supplements. It is still used to study the effects of steroid hormones in mice.

Infertility

• In a 2010 study at the St. Marianna University School of Medicine in Japan found that injecting female rats with androstenedione had a drastic effect on animal ovaries. Mouse ovary cells grown in the presence of androstenedione were observed to undergo programmed cell death, called apoptosis. This has the potential to profoundly affect female mouse fertility.

Polycystic ovary Disease

• Polycystic ovary disease is a condition in which there are many small cysts in the ovaries, often causing infertility. The study, "Human Reproduction," by Almahbobi et al. implicated androstenedione as a potential cause of polycystic ovary disease in mice. Together with other hormones androstenedione was shown to promote the formation of ovarian cysts in female mice.

Human Concerns

• Symptoms of androstenedione consumption seen in humans confirms the mouse data. People who have abused androstenedione have reported acne, liver abnormalities, masculinization, infertility, mood changes, and testicular changes. This suggests that excess testosterone can be harmful to humans as well as mice.