Combined neurotoxic effects of cannabis and nandrolone decanoate in adolescent male rats

El-Shamarka, Marwa El-Sayed; Sayed, Rabab H.; Assaf, Naglaa; Zeidan, Hala M.; Hashish, Adel F.

Polydrug use among adolescence is a widespread phenomenon and has increased in the last few years. In particular, most nandrolone decanoate (Nan) abusers combine its use with cannabis (Can); thus, studying the consequences of this combination in adolescent subjects is important because potentiation of their effects may increase their neurotoxicity. The present study was designed to study the neurotoxic effects of Nan and Can, alone and in combination, in adolescent male rats by studying the behavioural, biochemical, and histopathological effects. Nan (15 mg/kg, s.c.) and Can (20 mg/kg, s.c.) were given alone or in combination to rats once daily for one month. The combined administration of Can and Nan induced learning and spatial memory deficits, hypo-locomotion, anxiety and aggression in adolescent rats as evidenced by the Morris water maze, open field, elevated plus maze, and defensive aggression tests. In parallel, rats treated with the combination showed severe deleterious effects in the hippocampal and prefrontal cortex (PFC) neural architecture along with a decrease in brain-derived neurotropic factor. Furthermore, combined administration of Can and Nan increased oxidative stress (significantly increased malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels and reduced glutathione content), elevated brain pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumour necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 1 beta), and upregulated caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 mRNA expression and cytochrome c levels. In conclusion, abuse of both Can and Nan conferred greater neurotoxic effects than either drug alone that were at least partially attributed to oxidative stress, inflammation, and intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis in the hippocampus and PFC of rats.