Physical Provocation Potentiates Aggression in Male Rats Receiving Anabolic Androgenic Steroids
| Autor: | Augustus R. Lumia, Bernard Possidente, Megan E. Breuer, Marilyn Y. McGinnis |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2002 |
| Předmět: |
Dominance-Subordination
Male Pain Threshold Testosterone propionate medicine.medical_specialty Provocation test Poison control Androgen receptor binding Behavioral Neuroscience chemistry.chemical_compound Anabolic Agents Endocrinology Physical Stimulation Internal medicine medicine Animals Nandrolone Rats Long-Evans Testosterone Gonadal Steroid Hormones Stanozolol Endocrine and Autonomic Systems Aggression Rats body regions chemistry medicine.symptom Psychology medicine.drug |
| Zdroj: | Hormones and Behavior. 41:101-110 |
| ISSN: | 0018-506X |
| DOI: | 10.1006/hbeh.2001.1742 |
| Popis: | Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) have been linked to indiscriminant and unprovoked aggression and violence. We employed a brief tail pinch to examine the effects of different AAS on intermale aggression in gonadally intact male rats in response to a mild physical provocation. Animals received 5 mg/kg testosterone propionate (TP), nandrolone (ND), or stanozolol (ST) 5 days/week. Controls received vehicle injections. After 12 weeks, rats were tested for aggression while treatments continued. Animals were paired with either gonadally intact or castrated opponents and were tested in the subject rat's home cage, the opponents's home cage, and a neutral cage. Aggression was tested during tail pinch of the subject rat and during tail pinch of the opponent rat. In TP-treated males, tail pinch significantly enhanced aggression in all social and environmental conditions compared to intact controls. TP treatment also significantly enhanced aggression when the opponents were tail pinched. Tail pinch did not increase aggression in ND-treated males, and aggression was significantly lower than controls in ST-treated males. As expected, cell nuclear androgen receptor binding was significantly elevated by the high dose of TP. Our results show that while AAS alone does not induce the indiscriminate and unprovoked aggression characteristic of 'roid rage, TP heightens the animals sensitivity to external stimuli and lowers the threshold for aggression and dominance in response to provocation. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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