Skoupá Kristýna, Bátik Andrej, Tošnerová Kristína, Št'astný Kamil, Sládek Zbyšek
Department of Animal Morphology, Physiology and Genetics, Faculty of AgrSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Veterinary Research Institute in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic.
Anat Histol Embryol. 2025 Mar;54(2):e70033. doi: 10.1111/ahe.70033.
There is increasing pressure on meat producers worldwide due to the need for higher yields and improved meat quality. This is why anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) have been widely used in most countries, due to their ability to accelerate animal muscle growth. However, out of concern for their side effects, EU states have banned their use and implemented control mechanisms. But they are reaching their limits, and therefore, it is necessary to look for new ways and investigate the mechanism of action of AAS on muscle tissue. This study replicated the administration of banned AAS (testosterone, nandrolone and their combination) and observed their effect on pig muscle. The pig model was purposely chosen for the study, as no such research has been carried out on this species. At the same time, pork is one of the most consumed meats in Europe. It focused on histological changes in muscle structure, specifically the size of muscle fibres and the number of satellite cells per muscle fibre. Furthermore, ultrastructural changes in muscle fibres, the diameter of myofibrils, the number of myofibrils per area, the distance between myofibrils and the size of sarcomeres were examined. The results using the techniques of histology, fluorescent labelling and transmission electron microscopy showed that, after the application of AAS, there is an increase in the diameter of muscle fibres, an increase in the diameter of myofibrils, a decrease in the number of myofibrils per surface area and, in the case of testosterone, an increase in the distance between myofibrils and an increase in the length of sarcomeres. There was also a significant increase in the number of satellite cells per muscle fibre. The detected statistically significant differences between control and experimental groups provide evidence that selected histological parameters could be additional mechanisms for detecting the presence of AAS in pork meat in the future.
由于对更高产量和改善肉质的需求，全球肉类生产商面临的压力越来越大。这就是合成代谢雄激素类固醇（AAS）在大多数国家被广泛使用的原因，因为它们能够加速动物肌肉生长。然而，出于对其副作用的担忧，欧盟国家已禁止使用并实施了控制机制。但这些机制正达到极限，因此，有必要寻找新方法并研究AAS对肌肉组织的作用机制。本研究重复了禁用AAS（睾酮、诺龙及其组合）的给药过程，并观察其对猪肌肉的影响。之所以特意选择猪模型进行研究，是因为尚未对该物种开展过此类研究。与此同时，猪肉是欧洲消费最多的肉类之一。研究聚焦于肌肉结构的组织学变化，特别是肌纤维的大小和每条肌纤维卫星细胞的数量。此外，还研究了肌纤维的超微结构变化、肌原纤维的直径、每单位面积肌原纤维的数量、肌原纤维之间的距离以及肌节的大小。使用组织学、荧光标记和透射电子显微镜技术得到的结果表明，施用AAS后，肌纤维直径增加、肌原纤维直径增加、每单位表面积肌原纤维数量减少，而在睾酮作用下，肌原纤维之间的距离增加且肌节长度增加。每条肌纤维卫星细胞的数量也显著增加。对照组和实验组之间检测到的具有统计学意义的差异提供了证据，表明所选组织学参数可能成为未来检测猪肉中AAS存在的额外机制。
