Pharmacokinetics of testosterone and estradiol gel preparations in healthy young
men.
Author(s): Eisenegger C(1), von Eckardstein A, Fehr E, von Eckardstein S.
Affiliation(s): Author information:
(1)Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Department of Experimental
Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
christoph.eisenegger@gmail.com
Publication date & source: 2013, Psychoneuroendocrinology. , 38(2):171-8
The paucity of pharmacokinetic data on testosterone gel formulations and absence
of such data on estradiol administration in healthy young men constitutes a
fundamental gap of knowledge in behavioral endocrinological research. We
addressed this issue in a double-blind and placebo controlled study in which we
applied a topical gel containing either 150mg of testosterone (N=10), 2mg of
estradiol (N=8) or a respective placebo (N=10) to 28 healthy young men. We then
assessed serum concentrations of estradiol and testosterone in one hour intervals
up to seven hours after drug application, measured LH, SHBG and cortisol levels
once at baseline and three, four as well as six hours after gel administration.
Treatment with testosterone gel resulted in maximum total serum testosterone
concentration three hours after administration and did not suppress LH, cortisol
and SHBG levels at any time point. Administration of estradiol gel led to maximum
estradiol serum concentration two hours after administration. There was no
suppression of cortisol, SHBG and absolute LH levels. We report here, for the
first time, pharmacokinetic data on both high dose testosterone and estradiol gel
application in healthy young males. The proposed model will assist in the design
of future studies that seek to establish causality between testosterone and
estradiol gel administration and behavioral as well as neurophysiological
effects.
|