Changes in muscle mass, muscle strength, and power but not physical function are related to testosterone dose in healthy older men
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of graded doses of testosterone on physical function and muscle performance in healthy, older men. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. SETTING: General clinical research center. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling healthy men aged 60 to 75 (N=44). INTERVENTION: Monthly treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist plus 25, 50, 125, or 300 mg/wk of intramuscular injections of testosterone enanthate for 20 weeks. MEASUREMENTS: Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) was estimated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Leg press strength was measured by one repetition maximum, leg power by Nottingham Leg Rig, and muscle fatigability by repetitions to failure in the leg press exercise. Stair climbing, 6-meter and 400-meter walking speed, and a timed-up-and-go (TUG) test were used to assess physical function. RESULTS: Significant testosterone dose- and concentration-dependent increases were observed in SMM (P<.001) and maximal strength (P=.001) but not muscle fatigability. Leg power also increased dose-dependently (P=.048). In contrast, changes in self-selected normal and fast walking speed over 6 or 400 meters, stair climbing power, and time for the TUG were not significantly related to testosterone dose, testosterone concentrations, or changes in muscle strength or power, or SMM. CONCLUSION: Testosterone administration was associated with dose-dependent increases in SMM, leg strength, and power but did not improve muscle fatigability or physical function. The observation that physical function scores did not improve linearly with strength suggests that these high-functioning older men were already in the asymptotic region of the curve describing the relationship between physical function and strength.
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Testosterone dose-response relationships for muscle mass and strength show a consistent positive correlation.
“These studies did not report muscle strength, but other studies of testosterone dose-response relationships for muscle mass and strength show consistently positively correlation (65, 93, 117, 119), although with disproportionately greater effect on muscle strength than on muscle mass.”
From Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance (2018) · cites this paper as [117]
Testosterone has a disproportionately greater effect on muscle strength than on muscle mass.
“These studies did not report muscle strength, but other studies of testosterone dose-response relationships for muscle mass and strength show consistently positively correlation (65, 93, 117, 119), although with disproportionately greater effect on muscle strength than on muscle mass.”
From Circulating Testosterone as the Hormonal Basis of Sex Differences in Athletic Performance (2018) · cites this paper as [117]
Testosterone administration for 20 weeks is associated with dose-dependent increases in skeletal muscle mass, leg strength, and power.
“Testosterone administration for 20 weeks was associated with dose-dependent increases in skeletal muscle mass, leg strength, and power (13).”
From Onset of effects of testosterone treatment and time span until maximum effects are achieved (2011) · cites this paper as [13]
Changes in fat mass, lean body mass, and muscle strength occur within 12-16 weeks of testosterone treatment.
“Changes in fat mass, lean body mass, and muscle strength occur within 12–16 weeks, stabilize at 6–12 months, but can marginally continue over years.”
From Onset of effects of testosterone treatment and time span until maximum effects are achieved (2011) · cites this paper as [13]
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“As exogenous testosterone treatment has been shown to increase both muscle mass and muscle strength it is somewhat unexpected that grip strength but not muscle mass was significantly reduced in the male Srd5a1 mice [34].”
BackgroundHunter, S. K., Angadi, S. S., Bhargava, A., Harper, J., Hirschberg, A. L., Levine, B. D., Moreau, K. L., Nokoff, N. J., Stachenfeld, N. S., & Bermon, S. (2023) · Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine · doi:10.1249/tjx.0000000000000236 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Storer, T. W., Woodhouse, L., Magliano, L., Singh, A. B., Dzekov, C., Dzekov, J., & Bhasin, S.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Storer, Thomas W.
- Venue
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2008-11
- Volume
- 56
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1991-1999
- ISSN
- 0002-8614 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-5415
- PMC
- PMC2585153
- OpenAlex
- W2158589935
- Cited by
- 145
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 10.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (U01AG014369, 1R01 AG-14369-01, R01AG014369)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (T32DK007201, 1R01 DK 59627-01, R01DK049296, R01DK070534, 2R01DK49296-02A, R01DK059627)
- National Center for Research Resources (G12 RR 03026, P20RR11145, G12RR003026, P20RR011145)
- NIH Clinical Center
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U54HD041748, R01HD043348)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Keywords
- testosterone replacement therapy, testosterone enanthate, older men, muscle mass, muscle strength, leg power, muscle fatigability, physical function, dose-response relationship, GnRH agonist, healthy aging
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Androgens, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Double-Blind Method, Humans, Leg, Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone, Male, Middle Aged, Physical Endurance, Testosterone, Body Mass Index, Leuprolide, Muscle, Skeletal, Muscle Fatigue, Muscle Strength
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