Effect of anabolic/androgenic steroids on myosin heavy chain expression in hindlimb muscles of male rats

We have examined the effect of male sex hormones on the myosin heavy chain (MHC) expression of the soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles. Young male adult Wistar rats were treated over a 25-day period with either oil (CON, n = 8), nandrolone (nortestosterone decanoate, NAN, n = 8), nandrolone combined with endurance exercise (treadmill running, NAN+EXE, n = 8), or were castrated (CAS, n = 8). The MHC composition of the soleus and EDL muscles was measured by electrophoresis. Castration and treatment with nandrolone had no effect (P > 0.05) on the relative levels of MHC in the soleus and EDL. In contrast, in NAN+EXE rats, the relative level of MHC-1 increased [slow isoform; mean (SD) 97.6 (4.7)% in NAN+EXE rats, versus 86.5 (7.5)% in CON rats] and MHC-2a decreased [fast isoform; 2.4 (4.7)% in NAN+EXE, versus 13.5 (7.5)% in CON rats], only in the soleus (P < 0.05). In conclusion, it appears that endogenous anabolic/androgenic steroids are not essential for the maintenance of the MHC expression of fast- and slow-twitch muscles in the young adult male rat. In addition, nandrolone combined with endurance exercise induced a shift from a fast to a slower MHC phenotype of the slow-twitch muscle. Accepted: 27 July 1999