Anabolic steroid research
This particular study was a real surprise. anabolic steroid research Human-muscle-system. Male aging is accompanied by reduced testosterone production by the Leydig cells, the testosterone-producing cells of the testis. The mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. In the above study they suppressed testosterone production with androgen implants in male rats for eight months. anabolic steroid research Human-muscle-system. The researchers called this behavior of the testes as "steroidogenic hibernation". This is the same phenomenon that all male bodybuilders experience when using testosterone of other androgens. After removing the hormone implants they measured the ability of the leydig cells to produce testosterone by bathing them in luteinizing hormone (LH). anabolic steroid research Muscle system. They measured testosterone production as well as steroidogenic enzyme activities. As you can see from the graph above, the leydig cells of old rats that had their testosterone production temporarily shut down, retained their ability to produce testosterone equal to young rats. The activities of each enzyme tested were significantly lower in Leydig cells from the 23- month-old control rats compared with the 13-month-old control rats. All the steroidogenic enzyme activities were reduced in Leydig cells isolated from 11- and 21-month-old rats tight after exogenous testosterone treatment for 8 months. Two months after the implants were removed, when the rats were 13 and 23 months of age, respectively, the activities of each of the suppressed enzymes were at the high levels of 13-month-old control rats, in each case significantly higher than those of the 23-month-old controls. The researchers hypothesize that this phenomenon is the result of decreased oxidative damage to leydig cells. In the course of normal cell function, reactive oxygen species are produced and can cause damage to DNA, proteins (e. g. enzymes), and cell membranes including mitochondrial membranes. This could contribute to age related loss of testosterone production. It is known that reactive oxygen species can damage the steroidogenic pathway in vitro (Quinn, 1985). The authors of this study considered the dose of testosterone needed to accomplish this as a "contraceptive" dose. In men this is about 100 mg testosterone enanthate per week. They will usually throw in some progesterone too. This is far below what you would need to be a competitive bodybuilder.
Anabolic steroid research
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