High-dose testosterone enanthate supplementation boosts oxidative stress, but exerts little effect on the antioxidant barrier in sedentary adolescent male rat liver

•High doses of TE slow down body weight gain and compromise the growth of the liver.•High-dose TE treatment increases liver SOD activity, but boosts lipid peroxidation.•High-dose TE supplementation does not exert a lasting major effect on liver function. Anabolic-androgenic steroids abuse is on the rise among adolescent boys and young men, mostly in those seeking a ‘shortcut’ to an improved body image. This approach is associated with the risk of severe adverse health effects, some of which involve the liver and are linked to hepatic oxidative stress. Testosterone and its esters is a cornerstone of most anabolic-androgenic steroid stacking protocols. We assessed and compared several hepatotoxicity and liver oxidative stress indices, as well as the contents of some components of the hepatic antioxidant barrier between sedentary adolescent male rats given a 6-week course of weekly im testosterone enanthate (TE, 8 or 80mg/kgBW/week) or vehicle (sesame oil) injections. Blood and livers for the assessments were harvested seven days after the last injection. TE supplementation dose-dependently elevated blood testosterone and significantly increased the liver content of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances. Only the high-dose TE supplementation significantly slowed down body weight gain, reduced the liver weight/body weight ratio, increased liver heat shock protein 70/72 content and elevated blood enzyme markers of liver stress. There was no significant difference in reduced glutathione and α- or γ-tocopherol content between the TE-treated and control rats. Of the antioxidant enzymes studied (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase), only the dismutase activity was significantly while moderately elevated and only by the high-dose TE supplementation. (Sub)chronic supplementation of sedentary adolescent male rats with high TE doses does not exert a lasting major effect on the liver antioxidant barrier and redox homeostasis.