Dihydrotestosterone is elevated following sprint exercise in healthy young men

Abstract

Smith AA, Toone R, Peacock O, Drawer S, Stokes KA, Cook CJ. Dihydrotestosterone is elevated following sprint exercise in healthy young men. J Appl Physiol 114: 1435-1440, 2013. First published March 7, 2013 doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01419.2012.-Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) exerts both functional and signaling effects extending beyond the effects of testosterone in rodent skeletal muscle. As a primer for investigating the role of DHT in human skeletal muscle function, this study aimed to determine whether circulating DHT is acutely elevated in men following a bout of repeat sprint exercise and to establish the importance of training status and sprint performance to this response. Fourteen healthy active young men (V O2max 61.0 Ϯ 8.1 ml·kg body mass Ϫ1 ·min Ϫ1 ) performed a bout of repeat sprint cycle exercise at a target workload based on an incremental work-rate maximum (10 ϫ 30 s at 150% Wmax with 90-s recovery). Venous blood samples were collected preexercise and 5 and 60 min after exercise. Five minutes after exercise, there were significant elevations in total testosterone (TT; P Ͻ 0.001), free testosterone (FT; P Ͻ 0.001), and DHT (P ϭ 0.004), which returned to baseline after 1 h. Changes in DHT with exercise (5 min postexercise Ϫ preexercise) correlated significantly with changes in TT (r ϭ 0.870; P Ͻ 0.001) and FT (r ϭ 0.914; P Ͻ 0.001). Sprinting cadence correlated with changes in FT (r ϭ 0.697; P ϭ 0.006), DHT (r ϭ 0.625; P ϭ 0.017), and TT (r ϭ 0.603; P ϭ 0.022), and habitual training volume correlated with the change in TT (r ϭ 0.569, P ϭ 0.034). In conclusion, our data demonstrate that DHT is acutely elevated following sprint cycle exercise and that this response is influenced by cycling cadence. The importance of DHT in the context of exercise training and sports performance remains to be determined. testosterone; androgens; sprint cycling; exercise training EXERCISE IS KNOWN TO TRIGGER acute elevations in circulating androgens, with responses that are dependent on historical training status and workout design (11,35). These hormonal responses have been implicated both in the execution of acute workout performance and in the accrual of adaptive training gains (9). A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to support these actions, including the activation of cell signaling pathways promoting the mobilization of energy reserves via glutamine transporter 4 (GLUT4) (33) and the accretion of protein for skeletal muscle hypertrophy (15) via mTor (38), modulation of the excitability of neuromotor units (6), and more complex influences on behavioral motivation (4) and cognition (3). However, the precise nature of the interaction between hormonal response and functional outcome in a given exercise setting remains poorly understood. In particular, the reliance on testosterone as a ubiquitous marker of the androgen system has come under scrutiny with recent attention widening to include another bioactive androgen, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) (40).DHT is considered the terminal active product of androgen biosynthe...

Responses of sex steroid hormones to different intensities of exercise in endurance athletes

“…However, another study has demonstrated an increase in serum free testosterone and DHT concentrations immediately after repeated high‐intensity aerobic exercise (consisting of 10 repetitions of 30 s, sprinting at a target load of 150% of the work capacity) in healthy active young men (Smith et al . ). In addition, high‐intensity resistance exercise also increased testosterone concentrations during exercise compared with moderate‐intensity exercise.…”

“…Moreover, enzyme expressions related to circulating sex steroid hormone concentrations and muscle steroidogenesis tended to decrease at 3 h after moderate-intensity resistance exercise in our preliminary experiments on healthy young men. However, another study has demonstrated an increase in serum free testosterone and DHT concentrations immediately after repeated high-intensity aerobic exercise (consisting of 10 repetitions of 30 s, sprinting at a target load of 150% of the work capacity) in healthy active young men (Smith et al 2013). In addition, high-intensity resistance exercise also increased testosterone concentrations during exercise compared with moderate-intensity exercise.…”

“…According to Kuusi et al (1984), serum testosterone concentrations were decreased in physically active men after running on a treadmill using the Bruce protocol. On the contrary, repeated aerobic high-intensity exercise (consisting of 10 repetitions of 30 s sprinting at a target load of 150% of the maximal work capacity) increased serum total testosterone, free testosterone and DHT concentrations in healthy young men (Smith et al 2013). Moreover, in highschool students after a session of high-intensity exercise (70-85% of maximal heart rate), testosterone (Budde et al 2010) and cortisol concentrations (Budde et al 2015) were significantly increased.…”

“…On the contrary, repeated aerobic high‐intensity exercise (consisting of 10 repetitions of 30 s sprinting at a target load of 150% of the maximal work capacity) increased serum total testosterone, free testosterone and DHT concentrations in healthy young men (Smith et al . ). Moreover, in highschool students after a session of high‐intensity exercise (70–85% of maximal heart rate), testosterone (Budde et al .…”

Salivary testosterone responses to a physical and psychological stimulus and subsequent effects on physical performance in healthy adults

“…The exercise-induced changes in T are likely to be regulated by several factors such as cycling cadence, 36 heart rate, 37 and perceived exertion. 37 Whilst sprint cycling exercise can reliably increase T concentrations in untrained, active 10,18,38 or highly-trained men, 10,11,36 women do not always exhibit a T response. 21,27 This disparity could be explained by differences in the cycling protocols employed (e.g.…”