The Effect of Testosterone Replacement on Intramedullary, Inguinal and Visceral Fat in Ovariectomized Rats

Abstract Objective The present article aims to evaluate the impact of testosterone treatment on the expansion of visceral, subcutaneous and intramedullary adipose tissue of ovariectomized rats and the visceral and subcutaneous fat expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) gamma. Methods In total 48 female Wistar rats were castrated and randomly divided into 6 treatment groups: group E2 was submitted to estradiol 5 μg/day; group T, to testosterone 5 μg/day; group E2+ T, to estradiol 5 μg/day + testosterone 5 μg/day; group TT, to testosterone 30 μg/day; group E2+ TT, to estradiol 5 μg/day+ testosterone 30 μg/day; and placebo was administered to group P. After 5 weeks, the rats were euthanized, the inguinal and visceral adipose tissues were harvested, weighted, and had their PPAR gamma expression evaluated by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RTqPCR). The right femurs were harvested and histologically prepared to performthe number count of the intramedullary adipocytes. Results The expansion of visceral fat tissue was much higher in the TT group when compared with other treated groups (p