Table 1.
Effects of testosterone propionate (TP) treatment and endurance training (Tr) on serum sex hormone levels, body (BW) and heart (HW) weights and heart left ventricle malondialdehyde (MDA) content in young male Wistar rats
| Variable | UTr | UTr + TP8 | UTr + TP80 | Tr | Tr + TP8 | Tr + TP80 | Two-way ANOVA results | Coefficient of correlation with serum total testosterone levela | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | P | ||||||||
| Total testosterone [nmol/l] | 5.1 (0.7) | 35.4*** (6.2) | 93.5***††† (3.5) | 17.8# (1.0) | 35.0*** (10.5) | 91.1***††† (3.9) |
Training: F 1,30 = 2.67, P = 0.11 TP treatment: F 2,30 = 582.7, P < 10−6 Interaction: F 2,30 = 5.68, P = 0.008 |
– | – |
| Free testosterone [pmol/l] | 7.8 (6.3) | 88.8** (8.5) | 337.9***††† (41.7) | 44.0 (33.2)b | 54.1 (26.8) | 343.0***††† (18.1) |
Training: F 1,32 = 0.059, P = 0.81 TP treatment: F 2,32 = 490.1, P < 10−6 Interaction: F 2,32 = 4.76, P = 0.016 |
0.96 | <10−6 |
| Estradiol-17β [pmol/l] | 77.9 (15.9) | 76.5 (8.5) | 112.9* (21.6) | 93.7 (17.9) | 108.4 (14.2) | 105.7 (22.8) |
Training: F 1,34 = 4.98, P = 0.032 TP treatment: F 2,34 = 5.68, P = 0.008 Interaction: F 2,34 = 3.45, P = 0.043 |
0.48 | 0.003 |
| BW [g] | 342.8 (22.3) | 316.3 (22.5) | 288.8** (9.5) | 293.9## (33.3) | 311.4 (42.0) | 273.6 (9.2) |
Training: F 1,44 = 9.81, P = 0.003 TP treatment: F 2,44 = 10.3, P = 0.0002 Interaction: F 2,44 = 3.28, P = 0.047 |
−0.48 | 0.0028 |
| HW [g] | 0.81 (0.06) | 0.92 (0.05) | 0.90 (0.06) | 0.86 (0.11) | 0.89 (0.06) | 0.99* (0.10) |
Training: F 1,44 = 2.47, P = 0.12 TP treatment: F 2,44 = 8.74, P = 0.001 Interaction: F 2,44 = 2.40, P = 0.10 |
0.31 | 0.070 |
| HW/BW [mg/g] | 2.36 (0.17) | 2.92* (0.21) | 3.13** (0.26) | 2.98# (0.62) | 2.89 (0.38) | 3.60**†† (0.32) |
Training: F 1,44 = 11.76, P = 0.0013 TP treatment: F 2,44 = 15.8, P = 10−5 Interaction: F 2,44 = 3.43, P = 0.041 |
0.59 | 0.0002 |
| MDA [μmol/gwet wt] | 312.4 (51.8) | 828.4*** (119.7) | 883.2*** (125.2) | 409.4 (187.1) | 947.3*** (77.0) | 1,108.1***###† (87.1) |
Training: F 1,42 = 28.9, P = 3×10−6 TP treatment: F 2,42 = 206.0, P < 10−6 Interaction: F 2,42 = 2.09, P = 0.14 |
0.79 | <10−6 |
Data are means (SD). UTr untrained rats, Tr endurance-trained rats, TP8 8 mg/kgBW TP once a week, TP80 80 mg/kgBW TP once a week
a The correlation coefficients were calculated using Spearman rank correlation test, except that the correlation between free and total testosterone levels was calculated by linear regression analysis
b P = 0.004 versus the UTr group, Mann–Whitney U test
* P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001 vs. the respective TP-untreated group; # P < 0.05, ## P < 0.01, ### P < 0.001 vs. the respective untrained group; † P < 0.05, †† P < 0.01, ††† P < 0.001 vs. the respective low TP dose-treated group