Posted by undopaminergic on April 12, 2008, at 20:10:52
In reply to Re: Does taking testosterone help women's depression? » PhoenixGirl, posted by CareBear04 on April 12, 2008, at 0:10:08
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> i don't know much about testosterone in women, but i have done research on T levels in men. there is definitely a correlation between T levels and mood, and the trend tends to be parabolic. men with very low levels (usually below about 100 with the normal minimum being about 270) almost invariably experienced depression and/or mood swings. on the other hand, men with very high T levels also had moodiness and anger-related issues. my impression is that there seems to be a range, and outside of that range, more mood instability occurs. i don't know, though, whether taking T can improve the mood of a person with an otherwise normal T level but who is depressed. also, within the normal range, T levels fluctuate quite a bit during the day, which i'm not sure are matched by corresponding mood changes.
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> another research team did find that T helps with wasting in women with AIDS, so women have the same physiological response as men on that point.
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> here's another consideration-- both men and women naturally convert (at least some) testosterone into estrogen. i don't know whether it's estrogen or progesterone or both that affects mood in women, but increasing the amount of T in your body may throw off your other hormones.
>Testosterone (T) is the precursor of all estradiol (E2, the most potent estrogen), and is primarily produced by the gonads (ovaries or testicles), from adrenal androgens, of which androstenedione is the direct T precursor.
Also, in both sexes, the brain, fatty and breast tissues, and perhaps some other organs, create estrogens from the corresponding androgen precursors (eg. estradiol from T). This accounts for some (but not all) of the brain effects of T (and also explains the gynecomastia sometimes experienced by athletes and body-builders taking T and other androgens for enhanced muscle growth).
Aggression ("roid rage") is a common complication of high dose androgens, so the anger-related issues you noted in men with very high T are unsurprising.
The role of T as an estrogen precursor, and the role of progesterone as a precursor of androgens and corticosteroids (eg. cortisol) make it difficult to attribute effects (such as mood) to any of them specifically, without having ruled out that such effects are mediated by the conversion into other steroids. Furthermore, the steroids suppress certain effects of each other via activation of their associated receptors. Nevertheless, hormone supplements do have a role to play in certain cases of treatment-resistant depression.
poster:undopaminergic
thread:822767
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080412/msgs/822957.html