Testosterone Dose-Dependently Increases Maximal Voluntary Strength and Leg Power, but Does Not Affect Fatigability or Specific Tension
Thomas W. Storer,
Lynne Magliano,
Linda Woodhouse,
Martin L. Lee,
Connie Dzekov,
Jeanne Dzekov,
Richard Casaburi and
Shalender Bhasin
Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, California 90059
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Thomas W. Storer, Ph.D., Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, 1731 East 120th Street, Los Angeles, California 90059. E-mail: tostorer{at}cdrewu.edu.
Testosterone supplementation in men increases fat-free mass,but whether measures of muscle performance, such as maximalvoluntary strength, power, fatigability, or specific tension,are improved has not been determined. Furthermore, the extentto which these measures of muscle performance are related totestosterone dose or circulating concentration is unknown. Toexamine the relationship between testosterone dose and muscleperformance, 61 healthy, eugonadal young men (aged 18–35yr) were randomized to 1 of 5 groups, each receiving a long-actingGnRH agonist to suppress endogenous testosterone productionplus weekly injections of 25, 50, 125, 300, or 600 mg testosteroneenanthate for 20 wk. These doses produced mean nadir testosteroneconcentrations of 253, 306, 542, 1345, and 2370 ng/dl, respectively.Maximal voluntary muscle strength and fatigability were determinedby a seated leg press exercise. Leg power was measured usinga validated leg power instrument. Specific tension was estimatedby the ratio of one repetition maximum muscle strength to thighmuscle volume determined by magnetic resonance imaging. Testosteroneadministration was associated with a dose-dependent increasein leg press strength and leg power, but muscle fatigabilitydid not change significantly during treatment. Changes in legpress strength were significantly correlated with total (r =0.46; P = 0.0005) and free (r = 0.38; P = 0.006) testosteroneas was leg power (total testosterone: r = 0.38; P = 0.007; freetestosterone: r = 0.35; P = 0.015), but not muscle fatigability.Serum IGF-I concentrations were not significantly correlatedwith leg strength, power, or fatigability. Specific tensiondid not change significantly at any dose. We conclude that theeffects of testosterone on muscle performance are specific;it increases maximal voluntary strength and leg power, but doesnot affect fatigability or specific tension. The changes inleg strength and power are dependent on testosterone dose andcirculating testosterone concentrations and exhibit a log-linearrelationship with serum total and free testosterone. Failureto observe a significant testosterone dose relationship withfatigability suggests that testosterone does not affect thiscomponent of muscle performance and that different componentsof muscle performance are regulated by different mechanisms.
This work was supported by NIH Grants 1RO1-AG-14369 and 1RO1-DK-59627-01,FDA Grant ODP 1397, General Clinical Research Center Grant MO1-RR-00425,and RCMI Grants P20-RR-11145-01 (RCMI Clinical Research Initiative)and G12RR03026.
R.C. is the Grancell-Burns Chair in the Rehabilitative Sciencesat the Harbor-University of California-Los Angeles Researchand Education Institute.
Abbreviations: ANCOVA, Analysis of covariance; BMI, body massindex; GCRC, General Clinical Research Center; MRI, magneticresonance imaging; 1-RM, one repetition maximum.
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