Prasterone

Prasterone (DHEA)

the resurrection of a depreciated pro-hormone

When testosterone precursors were at the height of their popularity, several studies were published on the effect of DHEA supplementation and its relative androstenedione on body composition, but the results were inconclusive. Many supplement companies sold it as “the fountain of Youth” and as a miracle juice for bodybuilders, of course many users were disappointed. Nevertheless DHEA retains its popularity. Many users are convinced of DHEA's powers of rejuvenation.

Study

Despite the fact that DHEA has been discarded as a supplement in the sports world, Taiwanese and American researchers come to the conclusion that DHEA reduces muscle damage in as a result of intensive physical exertion. In a human study (2013) 16 male students, average age 19, to train on five consecutive days. Every afternoon the students ran for 40 minutes – at 65 percent of their maximal heart rate – and then did weight training. On day 2 the subjects did an extra 45-minute running training. This training session was designed to cause considerable muscle damage.

Half of the students were given a placebo; the other half took 100 mg DHEA each day. The students took 50 mg at breakfast and another 50 mg with their evening meal.

The DHEA group had a slightly higher blood testosterone level, but the effect was not statistically significant. What was significant was the effect on the concentration of the enzyme creatine kinase [CK]. Creatine kinase is a classic indicator of muscle damage: the more there is in your blood, the more serious the muscle damage you've incurred. The concentration of this enzyme was considerably lower in the DHEA group.

In addition, the students in the DHEA group reported less muscle pain [DOMS]. This effect was statistically significant too.

The researchers also looked at the effect of DHEA on insulin sensitivity, but found no effect.

The researchers suspect that damaged muscle cells absorb DHEA and use it to carry out repairs.

Study

Most subjects in DHEA studies are older people, that dosn’t perform any weight resistance training. In the first six months of the study from Villareal and Holloszy (2006), their test subjects didn’t either. Half of the test subjects just swallowed a 50 mg of DHEA pill per day, just before they went to bed. The other half took a placebo. After 6 months the subjects started with strength training. Three times a week they trained their major muscle groups with nine basic exercises such as squats, leg presses, seated rows-and-chest presses. Initially the subjects trained with 65 percent of the weight at which they could just manage 1 rep [1RM], but increased the tax within six weeks to 85 percent of the 1RM. They continued to use their DHEA or placebo [Pla].

Left: From the start of the trial [Baseline] until the first 6 months had passed [6 ms] the DHEA supplementation had no effect. But when the subjects were starting strength training, the DHEA group was significantly more effective at the leg press and chest-press than the placebo group.

DHEA supplementation had the first 6 months of the trial no effect on the muscle mass. The last four months, during which the subjects also did strength training, DHEA increased the growth of muscle mass.

These results brought the researchers to the conclusion:

"The finding of a significant potentiating effect of DHEA on the increasement of muscle mass and strength induced by weight training offers the rationale for additional studies Specifically designed to elucidate the mechanisms by DHEA replacement-which brings about this response,"

DHEA is short for dehydroepiandrosterone, sometimes called "Prasterone".

Chemically, DHEA is two steps away from testosterone. DHEA, which is produced in the adrenal glands, is the most abundant steroid hormone in our body. Some functions are now clear, but much is still unclear.

DHEA is a full working substance with many effects. It is certainly not just a pro-hormone as is often thought. For example, DHEA plays, inter alia, a significant role in the strengthening of the immune system (the resistance against bacteria and diseases), it has a large share in the maintenance and / or increasing the libido and DHEA appears to make a significant contribution to the psychological well-being (feeling good).

It is important to know that DHEA is involved in muscle building and conversion of fats into fatty acids. Many of these effects DHEA owes to the stimulation of other hormones in the body. For example, DHEA enhances the action of insulin and thyroid hormone and stimulates the production of IGF-1. In addition, DHEA inhibits the production and the operation of the 'stress hormone cortisol, which has a muscle-depleting (catabolic) activity.

In men DHEA levels in the blood of reach their peak when they are on average in their early twenties and women find this a little earlier. Then the levels start to decrease gradually until around the seventh year only a tenth of what they were at the peak. Do you have a menopause in women, in men can speak of andropause. DHEA owes its popularity largely to the decreasing androgen levels with aging and the idea that supplementation would counteract the adverse effects. In the sport DHEA is used mainly with the aim to increase the testosterone level.

Why would DHEA be interesting for (natural) bodybuilders?

Dennis Villareal and John Holloszy conclude in their study: One clue regarding a possible mechanism is provided by the finding that DHEA replacement results in an increase in serum IGF-I concentration . Although this increase was small, it raises the possibility that DHEA replacement might also increase the IGF-I isoforms expressed in skeletal muscle. A particularly intriguing possibility is that DHEA replacement might potentiate the increase in the IGF-I isoform mechano-growth factor (MGF) that is induced by muscle contractions and has a powerful anabolic effect on muscle.

 Testosterone has an anabolic effect on skeletal muscle and powerfully potentiates the effects of heavy resistance exercise on muscle mass and strength. DHEA replacement resulted in a threefold increase in testosterone level in the women in this study. This finding raises the possibility that the increase in testosterone might have played a role in potentiation of the effects of weight training on muscle mass and strength by DHEA replacement. Arguing against the possibility are the findings that the men, who had no significant increase in testosterone, showed the same potentiating effect of DHEA replacement as the women, and that the absolute level of testosterone, although increased, was still very low in the women receiving testosterone replacement.

Glucocorticoids have a catabolic effect on skeletal muscles, and plasma cortisol levels, as well as the increase in cortisol in response to physiological stressors, are increased in the elderly . DHEA has an anti-glucocorticoid effect. It seems possible that the enhancement of the effect of weight training on muscle mass and strength by DHEA replacement may be mediated, in part, by a countering of the catabolic effect of the increases in cortisol induced by exercise stress.

It has previously been shown that DHEA replacement results in a decrease in intra-abdominal fat and improvements in insulin action and glucose tolerance. The present results provide evidence that DHEA replacement has the additional beneficial effect of enhancing the increases in muscle-mass and strength induced by heavy resistance exercise in elderly women and men.

Brinkzone: While many of the effects of DHEA are mediated via conversion to testosterone and estrogen and activation of the androgen and estrogen receptors, studies clearly show that DHEA(S) is biologically active in its own right.

DHEA itself acts through specific cell surface receptors to increase eNOS activity and NO production, and contributes to intracellular signaling through activation of several intracellular messengers. DHEA also suppresses many of the detrimental effects of cortisol in muscle and fat tissue, and increases IGF-1 sensitivity and IGF-1 levels. Thus, it is time to re-evaluate the physiological role of DHEA and appreciate its multifaceted health promoting and potential fat loss actions.

Is there a result difference in age?

Effect of acute DHEA administration on free testosterone in middle-aged and young men following high-intensity interval training. Liu et all. 2013

With advancing age, plasma testosterone levels decline, with free testosterone levels declining more significantly than total testosterone. This fall is thought to underlie the development of physical and mental weakness that occurs with advancing age. In addition, vigorous exercise can also lower total and free testosterone levels with the decline greatest in physically untrained men. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of oral DHEA supplementation, a testosterone precursor, on free testosterone in sedentary middle-aged men during recovery from a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) bout of exercise. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study was conducted for 8 middle-aged participants (aged 49.3 ± 2.4 years) and an additional 8 young control participants (aged 21.4 ± 0.3 years). Each participant received DHEA (50 mg) and placebo on separate occasions one night (12 h) before a 5-session, 2-min cycling exercise (100% VO₂max). While no significant age difference in total testosterone was found, middle-aged participants exhibited significantly lower free testosterone and greater luteinizing hormone (LH) levels than the young control group.

Oral DHEA supplementation increased circulating DHEA-S and free testosterone levels well above baseline in the middle-aged group, with no significant effect on total testosterone levels. Total testosterone and DHEA-S dropped significantly until 24 h after HIIT for both age groups, while free testosterone of DHEA-supplemented middle-aged men remained unaffected. These results demonstrate acute oral DHEA supplementation can elevate free testosterone levels in middle-aged men and prevent it from declining during HIIT. Therefore, DHEA supplementation may have significant benefits related to HIIT adaptation.

DHEA is intriguing

In contrast, the indirect evidence for the anti-aging effect of DHEA (prasterone) is, at the very least, intriguing. One cannot assume that necessary research on this will be supported by the pharmaceutical industry; since it is not possible to patent the results. Since aging plays a central role in our society, it is therefore recommended that research on the effects of prasterone from other cash flows are supported. There is a particular need for more prospective clinical drug trials.