 androstenedione
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Androstenedione - Is
It A Big Hit?
By Ward Dean MD and Jim English
Recently a new
dietary supplement has taken the sports nutrition market by storm. Androstenedione,
(pronounced "an-dro-stene-dye-own") is a metabolite of DHEA and a natural
precursor of testosterone. To understand why androstenedione has become so popular
with athletes and bodybuilders, as well as how it may benefit health in general,
we first need to look at testosterone.
Testosterone is responsible for
the normal growth and development of the male sex organs, muscles, beard and body
hair, and plays a key role in maintaining human health, strength and energy. In
short, testosterone is responsible for making the male body 'masculine'. In fact,
every anabolic steroid is a synthetic analog of testosterone. Growth
hormone, although anabolic, is not a steroid - i.e., it is not derived from cholesterol.
Having normal testosterone levels is essential for health and well-being. Lest
we give the impression that testosterone is only a 'male' hormone, testosterone
also promotes muscle growth, maintains mood, and boosts sex drive in women.
Testosterone and Youth
Like many other physiological and biochemical
changes that occur with aging, testosterone levels (especially free testosterone
- that portion of testosterone in the blood that is not bound to sex hormone binding
globulin [SHBG]) drop significantly with advancing age. Often, symptoms like decreased
sex drive and ability to perform (libido), fatigue, depression, and signs like
increased body fat, reduced muscle mass, and loss of bone density are preceded
by decreased testosterone production.
These signs of lowered testosterone
production can occur at different times for different men, however most of us
will experience a dramatic decline. Even those seniors fortunate enough to maintain
testosterone in the normal range probably had even higher levels in their youth.
Conditions other than advanced age that can lead to lower-than-normal testosterone
levels include alcoholism, AIDS, chronic anemia, chronic corticosteroid use, chronic
kidney failure, diabetes, liver disease, obesity, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis
and hypogonadism.
Replacement Therapy
The usual methods to
restore low testosterone levels to normal are to use testosterone replacement
therapy (TRT). This is normally done with injections, pills, or transdermal patches.
One problem with many testosterone replacement therapies is that they use synthetic
testosterone (like the hepato-toxic/liver-damaging methyltestosterone) which may
cause a number of adverse effects. Another challenge is to mimic the body's normal
rhythmic production of testosterone. Testosterone is naturally
produced in a pulsate fashion, with the greatest amount being produced throughout
the evening, with much smaller amounts produced during the day. Although somewhat
safer than oral pills, testosterone injections and transdermal patches can cause
testosterone levels to remain elevated for days or weeks. The testosterone will
then either drop to subnormal values until the next treatment is given or applied,
or the next treatment may result in an overload or be converted into estrogens
or toxic metabolites. The abnormally low levels of testosterone,
which may occur following conventional, TRT is caused by feedback inhibition of
the hypothalamus, pituitary and testicles. This can adversely influence natural
endogenous testosterone production, and even lead to testicular atrophy. None
of these problems are known to occur with physiological (in terms of both dose
and timing) supplementation of androstenedione.
Androstenedione
Androstenedione, produced in the body from either 17-a-hydroxyprogesterone or
dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), was first synthesised in 1935. In 1936, Dr. Charles
Kochakian, a world expert on steroid hormones, discovered that it has both androgenic
(mas-culinizing) and anabolic (tissue building) properties. The
scientific community ignored the anabolic effects of androstenedione until 1962.
At that time, two researchers conducted an experiment in which normal women were
given either 100mg of DHEA or 100mg of androstenedione. The
study found that both hormones led to elevated testosterone levels - but androstenedione
increased testosterone levels twice as much as DHEA. In the women given DHEA,
testosterone levels (normally less than 199 ng/dl), rose to 280 ng/dl within 60
minutes. The second group, taking androstenedione, had testosterone levels elevated
as high as 660 ng/dl an hour later - a threefold increase above normal levels!
Significantly, this testosterone increase was transient, and lasted only
a couple of hours - and remained at peak-levels for only a few minutes - just
as occurs naturally in our bodies. Confirmation of the effectiveness of androstenedione
is contained in a German patent which claims that 50 mg of oral androstenedione
can raise plasma testosterone levels in men from 140% to 183% of normal. Thus
we may now have arrived at a truly physiologic (natural) way to restore flagging
testosterone levels in aging men and women to those of young, healthy adults.
Using Androstenedione
For those whose testosterone levels may
need a boost, 25-50 mg of androstenedione taken at bedtime, and perhaps again
first thing in the morning, will mimic the body's normal diurnal rhythms. The
same dose may be taken 30-60 minutes before exercise (for enhanced performance)
or after completion of exercise (to enhance muscle recovery and growth). Serum
levels of testosterone start rising about 15 minutes after oral administration
and stay elevated for around 3 hours. Blood testosterone levels usually peak in
around 1 to 1.5 hours after ingestion. Because the elevated testosterone levels
swiftly return to normal baseline levels, there is little risk of negative feedback
suppression of the hypothalamus, pituitary or testicles.
Women may also
benefit from occasional low-dose androstenedione use. It will probably be found
to be of use in the maintenance of bone density and actual reversal of osteoporosis.
Also, occasional use of androstenedione as a libido-enhancer has been reported,
with onset of effects occurring within 30-60 minutes. Women
using androstenedione for any use should be careful to adjust the dose downward
- or discontinue use - should signs of secondary male characteristics be noted
(i.e., voice deepening, hair or whiskers on upper lip, etc).
Comments
Androstenedione is listed as AndroSpray on the current order form.
Reprinted
with permission from Vitamin Research News, 1998. You can call VRP for their free
newsletter, with articles by Ward Dean, MD and Lane Lenard, PhD. Tel: U.S.A. 800
877 2447 or 1 702 884 1300.
DISCLAIMER: ALL INFORMATION IS EDUCATIONAL
AND PROVIDED UNDER IAS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IT DOES NOT, AND SHOULD NOT, REPLACE
THE ADVICE OF YOUR PHYSICIAN.
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