Tissues avoid damage from steroids: Arctic ground squirrel
 

Tissues of Arctic ground squirrels are protected from damage by suppressing androgen receptors except in muscles.

     
  "Lipid, the primary metabolic fuel for most hibernators, provides the needed energy from the catabolism of the fatty acids but provides insufficient glucose (from glycerol)...The problem for AGS [arctic ground squirrel] is how to build the needed muscle tissue prior to hibernation...The key anabolic steroid required for an increase in muscle mass is testosterone (Mooradian, Morley & Korenman 1987). It can be provided from the blood either directly (via testosterone from the testes) or indirectly (via the conversion within the tissue of androgen precursors such as androstenedione which is usually produced by the adrenals, King et al. 1999)...In nature, the benefits of high testosterone levels...come with costs...As a consequence, many seasonally breeding vertebrates limit high testosterone levels to the breeding season." (Boonstra et al. 2011:1349)

"We propose that AGS have solved the problem of hibernating in sub-zero temperatures by ramping up the adrenal production of key androgens. We hypothesize that at the tissue level it must ultimately be T [testosterone], as only T stimulates muscle growth (Mooradian, Morley & Korenman 1987) and muscle protein is required for gluconeogenesis to supplement that coming from the glycerol when lipid is catabolized." (Boonstra et al. 2011:1358)

It is not yet known how the Arctic ground squirrel mitigates the cost of high androgen levels.
  Learn more about this functional adaptation.