Testosterone and growth hormone improve body composition and muscle performance in older men.

ABSTRACT:

Context

Impairments in the pituitary-gonadal axis with aging are associated with loss of muscle mass and function and accumulation of upper body fat.

Objectives

We tested the hypothesis that physiological supplementation with testosterone and GH together improves body composition and muscle performance in older men.

Design, setting, and participants

One hundred twenty-two community-dwelling men 70.8 +/- 4.2 yr of age with body mass index of 27.4 +/- 3.4 kg/m2, testosterone of 550 ng/dl or less, and IGF-I in lower adult tertile (< or =167 ng/dl) were randomized to receive transdermal testosterone (5 or 10 g/d) during a Leydig cell clamp plus GH (0, 3, or 5 microg/kg . d) for 16 wk.

Main outcome measures

Body composition by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, muscl

SUBMITTER: Sattler FR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2690426 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature