PLASMA VARIATIONS IN TESTICULAR AND ADRENAL ANDROGENS DURING PROLONGED PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN MAN

Abstract

The evolution of the relationship between cortisol and testicular androgens was verified in 2 teams of 10 and 9 male subjects, respectively, (average age, 34) running 100 km races in an average time of 14 h. When compared to a control population of the same age, these trained athletes exhibited reduced testicular androgen levels (T [testosterone] and DHT [dihydrotestosterone]) and increased adrenal androgen (.DELTA.4 [androstenedione]) and cortisol levels with no significant alteration of LH [lutropin]. The period of recovery is characterized by a rapid return to normal of the hormonal parameters whereas T levels continue to increase in the following days. This hormonal picture, which reappears under certain pathological situations or when subjects are exposed to heavy stresses, seems to prove that the testicular androgens could be, both by their metabolic and psychic action, 1 of the limiting factors of physical aptitude to sustained effort.