Endocrine responses to chronic androstenedione intake in 30- to 56-year-old men.

In young men, chronic ingestion of 100 mg androstenedione (ASD), three times per day, does not increase serum total testosterone but does increase serum estrogen and ASD concentrations. We investigated the effects of ASD ingestion in healthy 30- to 56-yr-old men. In a double-blind, randomly assigned manner, subjects consumed 100 mg ASD three times daily (n = 28), or placebo (n = 27) for 28 days. Serum ASD, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), free and total testosterone, estradiol, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and lipid concentrations were measured at week 0 and each week throughout the supplementation period. Serum total testosterone and PSA concentrations did not change with supplementation. Elevated serum concentrations of ASD (300%), free testosterone (45%), DHT (83%), and estradiol (68%) were observed during weeks 1-4 in ASD (P < 0.05). There was no relationship between age and changes in serum ASD (r2 = 0.024), free testosterone (r2 = 0.00), or estradiol (r2 = 0.029) concentrations with ASD, whereas the serum DHT response to ASD ingestion was related to age (r2 = 0.244; P < 0.05). Serum concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased by 10% during the supplementation period (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the ingestion of 100 mg ASD, three times per day, does not increase serum total testosterone or PSA concentrations but does elicit increases in ASD, free testosterone, estradiol, and DHT and decreases serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.

Effects of androstenedione-herbal supplementation on serum sex hormone concentrations in 30- to 59-year-old men.

The effectiveness of a nutritional supplement designed to enhance serum testosterone concentrations and prevent the formation of dihydrotestosterone and estrogens from the ingested androgens was investigated in healthy 30- to 59-year old men. Subjects were randomly assigned to consume DION (300 mg androstenedione, 150 mg dehydroepiandrosterone, 540 mg saw palmetto, 300 mg indole-3-carbinol, 625 mg chrysin, and 750 mg Tribulus terrestris per day; n = 28) or placebo (n = 27) for 28 days. Serum free testosterone, total testosterone, androstenedione, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and lipid concentrations were measured before and throughout the 4-week supplementation period. Serum concentrations of total testosterone and PSA were unchanged by supplementation. DION increased (p < 0.05) serum androstenedione (342%), free testosterone (38%), dihydrotestosterone (71%), and estradiol (103%) concentrations. Serum HDL-C concentrations were reduced by 5.0 mg/dL in DION (p < 0.05). Increases in serum free testosterone (r2 = 0.01), androstenedione (r2 = 0.01), dihydrotestosterone (r2 = 0.03), or estradiol (r2 = 0.07) concentrations in DION were not related to age. While the ingestion of androstenedione combined with herbal products increased serum free testosterone concentrations in older men, these herbal products did not prevent the conversion of ingested androstenedione to estradiol and dihydrotestosterone.

[Gestational diabetes. Determination of relative importance of risk factors]. / Diabetes gestacional. Determinación del peso relativo de sus factores de riesgo.

The aim of this study was to determine the relative importance of gestational diabetes (GD) risk factors to identify populations at risk. A total of 400 pregnant patients were studied, 200 with confirmed GD diagnosis and 200 controls with risk factors. They regularly attended health-care units belonging to the Ministry of Health of the Province of Buenos Aires, in the context of the Program for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of People with Diabetes of the Province of Buenos Aires (PRODIABA). The following risk factors were evaluated: GD in previous pregnancies, history of diabetes in first degree relatives, age > or = 30 years, BMI > 26, history of fetal macrosomy, perinatal mortality and hypertension during pregnancy. Data analysis was performed with the Program of Statistics in Public Health Epilnfo 6. The association between GD development as a dependent variable and the presence of different risk factors (independent variables) was analyzed with a multiple logistic regression model, determining the logistic probability to develop GD. Results showed that the incidence of risk factors to develop GD is not the same; therefore, they do not have the same predictive value. Overweight or obesity played a key central role, not only for its frequency, but also for its contribution to GD development. Our findings reinforce the importance of multi causal studies as the basis to design and implement prevention strategies for diabetes.

Endocrine and lipid responses to chronic androstenediol-herbal supplementation in 30 to 58 year old men.

OBJECTIVE: The effectiveness of an androgenic nutritional supplement designed to enhance serum testosterone concentrations and prevent the formation of dihydrotestosterone and estrogen was investigated in healthy 3 to 58 year old men. DESIGN: Subjects were randomly assigned to consume a nutritional supplement (AND-HB) containing 300-mg androstenediol, 480-mg saw palmetto, 450-mg indole-3-carbinol, 300-mg chrysin, 1,500 mg gamma-linolenic acid and 1.350-mg Tribulus terrestris per day (n = 28), or placebo (n = 27) for 28 days. Subjects were stratified into age groups to represent the fourth (30 year olds, n = 20), fifth (40 year olds, n = 20) and sixth (50 year olds, n = 16) decades of life. MEASUREMENTS: Serum free testosterone, total testosterone, androstenedione, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol, prostate specific antigen and lipid concentrations were measured before supplementation and weekly for four weeks. RESULTS: Basal serum total testosterone, estradiol, and prostate specific antigen (PSA) concentrations were not different between age groups. Basal serum free testosterone concentrations were higher (p < 0.05) in the 30- (70.5 +/- 3.6 pmol/L) than in the 50 year olds (50.8 +/- 4.5 pmol/L). Basal serum androstenedione and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) concentrations were significantly higher in the 30- (for androstenedione and DHT, respectively, 10.4 +/- 0.6 nmol/L and 2198.2 +/- 166.5 pmol/L) than in the 40- (6.8 +/- 0.5 nmol/L and 1736.8 +/- 152.0 pmol/L) or 50 year olds (6.0 +/- 0.7 nmol/L and 1983.7 +/- 147.8 pmol/L). Basal serum hormone concentrations did not differ between the treatment groups. Serum concentrations of total testosterone and PSA were unchanged by supplementation. Ingestion of AND-HB resulted in increased (p < 0.05) serum androstenedione (174%), free testosterone (37%), DHT (57%) and estradiol (86%) throughout the four weeks. There was no relationship between the increases in serum free testosterone, androstenedione, DHT, or estradiol and age (r2 = 0.08, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.02, respectively). Serum HDL-C concentrations were reduced (p < 0.05) by 0.14 mmol/L in AND-HB. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that ingestion of androstenediol combined with herbal products does not prevent the formation of estradiol and dihydrotestosterone.