Aims The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the interaction between the abusive use of nandrolone decanoate (ND) and physical activity on the prostate structure of adult and older rats. We evaluated whether the use of ND, associated or not with physical exercise during the post-pubertal stage, interferes with the morphophysiology of the prostate. Main methods Fifty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into eight groups. The animals were treated for eight weeks and divided into sedentary and trained groups, with or without ND use. Four groups were sacrificed 48 h after the end of the eight week experiment (adult groups), and four other groups were sacrificed at 300 days of age (older groups). The prostate was collected and processed for stereological and histopathological analysis and for the expression of AQP1 and VEGF by the Western blotting technique. Key findings Both ND and physical activity altered the ventral prostate structure of the rats; the AQP1 and VEGF expression increased in young animals subjected to physical exercise. Significance Thus, it was concluded that the use of ND, associated or not with exercise during the post-pubertal stage, interferes with the morphophysiology of the prostate.121 1621Antonelli, J., Freedland, S.J., Jones, L.W., Exercise therapy across the prostate cancer continuum (2009) Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis., 12 (2), pp. 110-115Bauman, D.H., Richerson, J.T., Britt, A.L., A comparison of body and organ weights, physiologic parameters, and pathologic changes in target organs of rats given combinations of exercise, anabolic hormone, and protein supplementation (1988) Am. J. Sports Med., 16 (4), pp. 397-402Bradford, M.M., A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding (1976) Anal. Biochem., 72, pp. 248-254Choo, J.J., Emery, P.W., Rothwell, N.J., Dose-dependent effects of an anabolic steroid, nandrolone phenylpropionate (durabolin), on body composition and muscle protein metabolism in female rats (1991) Ann. Nutr. Metab., 35 (3), pp. 141-147Clapp, C., De La Escalera, G.M., Aquaporin-1: A novel promoter of tumor angiogenesis (2006) Trends Endocrinol. Metab., 17 (1), pp. 1-2Clark, A.S., Harrold, E.V., Fast, A.S., Anabolic-androgenic steroid effects on the sexual behavior of intact male rats (1997) Horm. Behav., 31 (1), pp. 35-46Cunha, G.R., Alarid, E.T., Turner, T., Donjacour, A.A., Boutin, E.L., Foster, B.A., Normal and abnormal development of the male urogenital tract. Role of androgens, mesenchymal-epithelial interactions, and growth factors (1992) J. Androl., 13 (6), pp. 465-475De Pergola, G., Xu, X.F., Yang, S.M., Giorgino, R., Bjorntorp, P., Up-regulation of androgen receptor binding in male rat fat pad adipose precursor cells exposed to testosterone: Study in a whole cell assay system (1990) J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol., 37 (4), pp. 553-558Dvorak, H.F., Brown, L.F., Detmar, M., Dvorak, A.M., Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor, microvascular hyperpermeability, and angiogenesis (1995) Am. J. Pathol., 146 (5), pp. 1029-1039Feinberg, M.J., Lumia, A.R., McGinnis, M.Y., The effect of anabolic-androgenic steroids on sexual behavior and reproductive tissues in male rats (1997) Physiol. Behav., 62 (1), pp. 23-30Friedenreich, C.M., Thune, I., A review of physical activity and prostate cancer risk (2001) Cancer Causes Control, 12 (5), pp. 461-475Froehner, M., Fischer, R., Leike, S., Hakenberg, O.W., Noack, B., Wirth, M.P., Intratesticular leiomyosarcoma in a young man after high dose doping with oral-turinabol: A case report (1999) Cancer, 86 (8), pp. 1571-1575Fávaro, W.J., Cagnon, V.H., Effect of combined hormonal and insulin therapy on the steroid hormone receptors and growth factors signalling in diabetic mice prostate (2010) Int. J. Exp. Pathol., 91 (6), pp. 537-545Greiwe, J.S., Hickner, R.C., Hansen, P.A., Racette, S.B., Chen, M.M., Holloszy, J.O., Effects of endurance exercise training on muscle glycogen accumulation in humans (1999) J. Appl. Physiol., 87 (1), pp. 222-226Guzmán, M., Saborido, A., Castro, J., Molano, F., Megias, A., Treatment with anabolic steroids increases the activity of the mitochondrial outer carnitine palmitoyltransferase in rat liver and fast-twitch muscle (1991) Biochem. Pharmacol., 41 (5), pp. 833-835Hackney, A.C., Endurance exercise training and reproductive endocrine dysfunction in men: Alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis (2001) Curr. Pharm. Des., 7 (4), pp. 261-273Jackson, M.W., Bentel, J.M., Tilley, W.D., Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (1997) J. Urol., 157 (6), pp. 2323-2328Jones, L.W., Antonelli, J., Masko, E.M., Broadwater, G., Lascola, C.D., Fels, D., Exercise modulation of the host-tumor interaction in an orthotopic model of murine prostate cancer (2012) J. Appl. Physiol., 113 (2), pp. 263-272Jung, S.I., Lee, H.S., Kim, H.S., Ahn, K., Park, K., Effects of castration on the expression of aquaporins and apoptosis in the ventral prostate (2012) J. Mens Health, 9, pp. 238-244Karbalay-Doust, S., Noorafshan, A., Stereological study of the effects of nandrolone decanoate on the rat prostate (2006) Micron, 37 (7), pp. 617-623Kolasa, A., Marchlewicz, M., Wenda-Rózewicka, L., Wiszniewska, B., Morphology of the testis and the epididymis in rats with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) deficiency (2004) Rocz. Akad. Med. Bialymst., 49, pp. 117-119Kyprianou, N., Isaacs, J.T., Activation of programmed cell death in the rat ventral prostate after castration (1988) Endocrinology, 122 (2), pp. 552-562Mobasheri, A., Airley, R., Hewitt, S.M., Marples, D., Heterogeneous expression of the aquaporin 1 (AQP1) water channel in tumors of the prostate, breast, ovary, colon and lung: A study using high density multiple human tumor tissue microarrays (2005) Int. J. Oncol., 26 (5), pp. 1149-1158Montico, F., Hetzl, A.C., Cândido, E.M., Cagnon, V.H.A., Angiogenic and tissue remodeling factors in the prostate of elderly rats submitted to hormonal replacement (2013) Anat. Rec., 296, pp. 1758-1767Noorafshan, A., Karbalay-Doust, S., Ardekani, F.M., High doses of nandrolone decanoate reduce volume of testis and length of seminiferous tubules in rats (2005) APMIS, 113 (2), pp. 122-125Paschoal, M., De Cássia Marqueti, R., Perez, S., Selistre-De-Araujo, H.S., Nandrolone inhibits VEGF mRNA in rat muscle (2009) Int. J. Sports Med., 30, pp. 775-778Pope, H.G., Katz, D.L., Affective and psychotic symptoms associated with anabolic steroid use (1988) Am. J. Psychiatry, 145 (4), pp. 487-490Saadoun, S., Papadopoulos, M.C., Hara-Chikuma, M., Verkman, A.S., Impairment of angiogenesis and cell migration by targeted aquaporin-1 gene disruption (2005) Nature, 434 (7034), pp. 786-792Serazin-Leroy, V., Morot, M., De Mazancourt, P., Giudicelli, Y., Androgen regulation and site specificity of angiotensinogen gene expression and secretion in rat adipocytes (2000) Am. J. Physiol. Endocrinol. Metab., 279 (6), pp. 1398-E1405Shappell, S.B., Thomas, G.V., Roberts, R.L., Herbert, R., Ittmann, M.M., Prostate pathology of genetically engineered mice: Definitions and classification. The consensus report from the Bar Harbor Meeting of the Mouse Models of Human Cancer Consortium Prostate Pathology Committee (2004) Cancer Res., 64, pp. 2270-2305Shokri, S., Aitken, R.J., Abdolvahhabi, M., Abolhasani, F., Ghasemi, F.M., Kashani, I., Exercise and supraphysiological dose of nandrolone decanoate increase apoptosis in spermatogenic cells (2010) Basic Clin. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 106 (4), pp. 324-330Takahashi, M., Tatsugi, Y., Kohno, T., Endocrinological and pathological effects of anabolic-androgenic steroid in male rats (2004) Endocr. J., 51 (4), pp. 425-434Teixeira, G.R., Fávaro, W.J., Pinheiro, P.F., Chuffa, L.G., Amorim, J.P., Mendes, L.O., Physical exercise on the rat ventral prostate: Steroid hormone receptors, apoptosis and cell proliferation (2012) Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports, 22 (5), pp. 86-e92Tie, L., Lu, N., Pan, X.Y., Pan, Y., An, Y., Gao, J.W., Hypoxia-induced up-regulation of aquaporin-1 protein in prostate cancer cells in a p38-dependent manner (2012) Cell. Physiol. Biochem., 29 (12), pp. 269-280Tseng, Y.T., Rockhold, R.W., Hoskins, B., Ho, I.K., Cardiovascular toxicities of nandrolone and cocaine in spontaneously hypertensive rats (1994) Fundam. Appl. Toxicol., 22 (1), pp. 113-121Tuxhorn, J.A., Ayala, G.E., Rowley, D.R., Reactive stroma in prostate cancer progression (2001) J. Urol., 166 (6), pp. 2472-2483Weibel, E.R., Paumgartner, D., Integrated stereological and biochemical studies on hepatocytic membranes. II. Correction of section thickness effect on volume and surface density estimates (1978) J. Cell Biol., 77 (2), pp. 584-597