What is it about?
It is common knowledge that testosterone and other anabolic steroids increase muscle mass. However, its effects in organ size in humans was not known. Animal studies had previously suggested that testosterone increases the size of the liver, spleen and kidneys, so we decided to evaluate the effect in humans. Using testosterone doses ranging from low to very high administered to healthy young men, and measuring the size of these organs through MRI, we confirmed that testosterone increases liver and kidney size. For the liver, the higher the dose, the higher the gain in size.
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Why is it important?
In men receiving testosterone for cachexia or muscle wasting, follow-up of treatment efficacy is performed using imaging studies that measure lean mass altogether, with muscle mass and organ mass being added together. Thus, part of the changes in lean mass observed with testosterone therapy might account for gains in organs size.
Perspectives
The gain in liver and renal size with testosterone might implicate a gain in hepatic and renal function. Future studies should evaluate changes in function of these organs, as pharmacologically-induced gain in hepatic and renal function would be usefull in several illnesses.
Dr. Thiago Gagliano-Jucá
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Effects of testosterone administration (and its 5-alpha-reduction) on parenchymal organ volumes in healthy young men: findings from a dose-response trial, Andrology, July 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/andr.12392.
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