Kindlundh Anna M S, Bergström Mats, Monazzam Azita, Hallberg Mathias, Blomqvist Gunnar, Långström Bengt, Nyberg Fred
Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Division of Biological Research on Drug Dependence, Box 591, S-751-24 Uppsala, Sweden.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2002 Dec;26(7-8):1303-8. doi: 10.1016/s0278-5846(02)00293-2.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) have recently been shown to induce neurochemical alterations in areas of the male rat CNS related to behavioural changes that have been observed among AAS misusers. In the present study, positron emission tomography (PET) is suggested as a suitable in vivo method in order to visualize the density of the dopamine transporter ([11C]-FE-beta-CIT) as well as the dopamine D1-like ([11C]-(+)-SCH23390) and the D2-like receptors ([11C]-raclopride) in the male rat brain. Chronic treatment with the AAS nandrolone decanoate (15 mg/kg/day for 14 days) caused an up-regulation of the binding potential of the dopamine transporter in the striatum.