EFFECT OF ANABOLIC-STEROIDS ON BEHAVIOR AND PHYSIOLOGICAL-CHARACTERISTICS OF FEMALE MICE

Adult female mice were exposed to a combination of four anabolic-andro genic steroids for 9 weeks at doses that were either one or five times the androgenic maintenance level for male mice. Relative to control f emales, steroid treatment depressed gonadotropin secretion and increas ed both dry body weight and fat content but without an increase in foo d intake. Steroid treatment depressed spontaneous use of a running whe el and open-field activity, and it increased aggressiveness. It also e liminated a behavior related to encounters between the sexes-the rejec tion of genital inspection. There was no effect of steroid treatment o n the time required to recover from 10 h of enforced running on a trea dmill. Overall, regardless of the test or measure, there was little or no difference in the effect of the high and low dose of steroids. Thi s indicates a threshold of response below the low dose used in these s tudies, which itself is probably well below that used by many female a thletes and body builders.