Androstenedione

In the body, it is produced by the adrenal glands and gonads from dehyroepiandrosterone (DHEA or 17- alpha-hydroxyprogesterone). DHEA is converted into androstenedione an the enzyme in the gonads. Androstenedione is a precursor of testosterone. Once the androstenedione is taken orally, it makes it into the liver where it is almost destroyed completely, the amount that survives combine with the enzyme 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase to make testosterone as shown in the figure below. Taking androstenedione orally can increase androstenedione blood serum levels over 300 percent after about 2 hours and remaining high for 4 hours. Studies have shown that androstenedione by itself does not produce increased muscle mass but once converted into testosterone in the liver, the elevated testosterone levels may lead to muscle mass gain, but not proven.

The problem with androstenedione is that it metabolizes quickly into estrogens, estrone and estradiol as shown in the figure. These two products can stay in the body for days as opposed to the androstenedione, which diminishes within hours. Estrogens have an opposite effect than testosterone; they suppress fat-loss and tissue healing. Estrogen levels can be monitored and managed by blood and saliva testing in order to be kept under control if using the product.

A study published by the American Medical Association (AMA), investigated the anabolic effects of orally taking androstenedione with men that had none or little weight training experience. The study focused on short-term effects of a single 100 mg dose followed by a longer term of 300 mg for an eight-week program of weight training. This study proved the androstenedione increased androstenedione, estrone and estradiol levels within the body. Luteininzing Hormone (LH), folical-stimulating hormone (FSH) which are involved in the production of testosterone within the body, was unaffected as were liver enzymes. This suggests that ingesting androstenedione would not affect the body in producing testosterone as in the case where elevated levels of testosterone may affect the self-production of the testosterone. The study only stated that androstenedione can produce elevated testosterone levels, and not that the levels of testosterone were not sufficient to produce enhanced performance.

Androstenedione is a direct precursor of testosterone and estrone. DHEA on the other hand has an indirect metabolic pathway to estrone, may produce lower estrogen levels, but will also not increase the levels of testosterone as andro does, and therefore may not yield as high of a muscle mass gain according to some researchers.

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