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Background: Anabolic steroids have been increasingly used to increase muscle mass and improve physical performance; however, little is known about the mechanisms involved in these processes. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the anabolic steroid nandrolone decanoate (ND) on the differentiation of C2C12 muscle cells by quantifying the activity of intracellular creatine kinase (CK).
Material and Methods: Cells were grown in a culture medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum for 24 hours to promote cell adhesion. A medium containing 2% horse serum was then added to induce cell differentiation, followed by the addition of ND at concentrations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 µM. A group that did not receive the anabolic steroid served as the control. Cell differentiation was determined for 1–3 days through the quantitation of CK activity using a commercial kit. Three independent experiments were performed. The results were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance and Dunnett’s post-test, with p-values <0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: An increase in CK activity was observed after 3 days in the presence of ND at concentrations of 5, 10 and 25 µM, but this effect was not observed at a concentration of 50 µM.
 
Conclusions: The anabolic steroid ND increased CK activity after 3 days at concentrations of 5, 10 and 25 µM, suggesting the induction of muscle cell differentiation.

Keywords: Satellite Cells, Skeletal Muscle, creatine kinase, Nandrolone Decanoate