Alcohol Boosts Testosterone in the Brain!

[James23]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12544003&dopt=Abstract

I've just found an article on PubMED that concludes that (in rats, at least) the concentration of testosterone in the brain increases 4 fold through alcohol consumption! They believe it to explain the some of the human behavioral changes associated with drinking. It certainly makes sense to me -- the promiscuity, risky behavior, "beer muscles," and aggression we all know and love are partially due to our receptors facing 400% the usual amount of T. Apparently it's due to ethanol oxidation, and does not seem to occur elsewhere in the body.

BACKGROUND: The interaction of alcohol and testosterone has long been of interest, mainly due to the effect of alcohol on aggression and sexual behavior. To date, there have been very few, if any, studies examining the effect of acute alcohol administration on testosterone concentrations in the brain. The administration of 1,1-dideuteroethanol ([1,1-2H2]ethanol) provided the opportunity to trace the deuterium label into newly synthesized deuterotestosterone in brain samples to determine whether ethanol oxidation was directly linked to testosterone synthesis. METHODS: Unoperated and adrenalectomized-gonadectomized (ADX/GDX) rats were given either ethanol or [1,1-2H2]ethanol in a single intraperitoneal dose of 2 g/kg body weight. We used gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to accurately determine both the amount of steroids present and the degree of deuterium incorporation into specific steroids isolated from brain samples. RESULTS: Thirty minutes after alcohol administration, the level of total testosterone increased 4-fold in the frontal cortex and 3-fold in the plasma of unoperated male Wistar rats. The relative increase in the abundance of monodeuterated testosterone 30 min after [1,1-2H2]ethanol administration was significant (p < 0.05) in both brain and plasma. ADX/GDX animals treated with alcohol had testosterone concentrations that were 5% of those found in unoperated animals dosed with ethanol.

CONCLUSIONS: Acutely administered ethanol increased brain concentrations of testosterone 4-fold in male Wistar rats. ADX/GDX surgery reduced brain concentrations of testosterone in response to alcohol by 95%. The deuterium labeling of testosterone after [1,1-2H2]ethanol showed that ethanol oxidation is directly linked to testosterone biosynthesis and that the deuterium-labeled testosterone is present in the central nervous system. These results demonstrate that peripherally administered ethanol directly contributes to the concentrations of testosterone in the central nervous system and that the testosterone found in brain samples is primarily synthesized in the periphery. These findings may be important for understanding the behavioral changes associated with acute alcohol consumption.

I'm a big fan of alcohol. It's the only thing that has ever worked to get me over severe social anxiety and that feeling of being "feeble" that I get from T levels that have been at the 80 year old level ever since I hit puberty. This article sheds some light on why it's been so successful for me, and why it makes me feel like a "normal" person. So normal that every girl I've been with for any period of time -- 20 or so at this point (from ages 22 through 24) has been a direct result of my drunken happy/outgoing (but not foolish) personality. Without it, I sit in the corner like a scared puppy.

 

[1cc]

I'm a big fan of alcohol. It's the only thing that has ever worked to get me over severe social anxiety and that feeling of being "feeble" that I get from T levels that have been at the 80 year old level ever since I hit puberty. This article sheds some light on why it's been so successful for me, and why it makes me feel like a "normal" person. So normal that every girl I've been with for any period of time -- 20 or so at this point (from ages 22 through 24) has been a direct result of my drunken happy/outgoing (but not foolish) personality. Without it, I sit in the corner like a scared puppy.

Wouldn't you think it's because the alcohol relaxes you. I think that being relaxed is the one of the biggest factors in libido.

 

[James23]

Wouldn't you think it's because the alcohol relaxes you. I think that being relaxed is the one of the biggest factors in libido.

I think that's a good part of it. But, being relaxed doesn't align with my aggressivenes, bravado, loudness, and enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, when I get as drunk as I do, ED kicks in because of the thin-blood issue. If I get cut when I'm drunk, my blood won't even clot.

Back to the original topic -- has anyone ever herad of this information before?

I've heard ethanol majorly inhibits the production of T, thus stimulating LH. However, the testes aren't able to adequately respond to the LH in the presence of the ethanol.

 

[hackskii]

WOW, interesting.

Why don't they have studies for men?
I am sure they could find many volunteers for this experament

 

[The_Skeptic]

I'm a big fan of alcohol. It's the only thing that has ever worked to get me over severe social anxiety and that feeling of being "feeble" that I get from T levels that have been at the 80 year old level ever since I hit puberty. This article sheds some light on why it's been so successful for me, and why it makes me feel like a "normal" person. So normal that every girl I've been with for any period of time -- 20 or so at this point (from ages 22 through 24) has been a direct result of my drunken happy/outgoing (but not foolish) personality. Without it, I sit in the corner like a scared puppy.

I'm also a big fan of alcohol because it has always had a very soothing effect on my brain. I can drink six beers and function better than I can when I don't drink. My mind is much sharper. Of course if I continue drinking, then I will get drunk, but I have a higher tolerance for alcohol than most people.

There is some truth when I say, "I drive better when I drink." That doesn't mean I drink when I'm sloshed, but I drive better if I've had a few beers over the space of a few hours. The good thing about beer is that you can maintain a buzz without going over the limit and getting sloppy, if you pace yourself.

I always assumed it had something to do with my ADHD and dopamine because when I drive sober, I tend to take more impulsive chances behind the wheel. I'm much more impatient and irritable in traffic. I tend to speed more and cut in and out of traffic.

But when I drink, I don't try and beat out the yellow lights. I just stop and wait until it turns green. I don't draw attention to myself by driving erratic. Unlike many of my friends, I've never had a DUI although I've received plenty of speeding tickets when I was sober.

If I am irritable, beer mellows me out and makes me a much nicer person. I'm not like those people who get mean when they drink.

Sometimes, when I go without much sleep and my nerves are frazzled from too much caffeine and my mind in spacy, I drink beer and I almost become normal.

But the problem is, beer also tends to increase my E2 levels, sometimes drastically. There are times when I drink when I immediately get red in the face, which sucks. I've read that beer has a higher estrogen level than other forms of booze, like wine and liquor, but it is my beverage of preference.

I also feel depleted and weak the morning after drinking, so even if alcohol causes T levels to rise during consumption, I imagine it causes them to sink lower the following day.

James, how long have you been on TRT and what exactly is your condition? And how long and how often have you been drinking?

Do you believe that alcohol might contradict with TRT, making the TRT less effective?

This is the reason I ask:

I am 37 years old with secondary hypogonadism that most likely stems from a serious head injury I had as a 4-year-old child. That injury probably also caused my ADHD and my lifelong bouts of insomnia.

So I began puberty at the age of 14, but didn't complete it. I got stuck on Tanner stage 4. My penis is normal, according to doctors and girls I've been with (shorter than average, but thicker than average), but the distribution of my pubic hair did not develop into a full triangle, as it does in Tanner stage 5. And I've always have a shriveled penis when not erect, which is embarrassing when I take showers with girls.

And up until I got on TRT at the age of 26, I had very sparse hairs under my arms and I rarely had to shave.

Fortunately, my phsyique has always been normal for my age and I've had good muscle mass. I have large hands and broad shoulders. Right now, I weigh 190 lbs and stand at 5'9". I could stand to lose 10 pounds from my belly, but I do love my beer and I'm lazy about working out.

But even today, after eleven years on TRT, I've only grown a few more hairs under my arms and chest, and I still don't have the full pubic triangle I should have, according to the five Tanner stages.

I am still unable to grow a beard or a mustache, although I now shave more frequently. And my skin is much smoother and softer than normal men my age, which always raises comments from women.

Basically, I am still stuck on Tanner stage 4 and I would like to reach the fifth and final stage to achieve full virilization.

But I wonder if 20 years of regular alcohol consumption somehow prevented the TRT from acheiving this goal.

 

[Ronin_]

On a totally empirical aside, most people i know male and female have a major libido increase when hungover.

If im badly hungover ill come 5 or 6 times that day. I figured this was an LH rebound, and a factor of the anxiety from the hangover rebound also.

Any science guys?

 

[1cc]

When I drink my libido goes down. I know when some people drink, their libido goes up. I also get a big estrogen conversion when I drink.

 

[stat1951]

Interesting article.

I know that there have been studies - involving men - that also show that alcohol consumption fairly drastically increases esgtrogen levels. Generally the estrogen level elevations decline (as the alcohol metabolizes and then the induced alcohol estrogens metabolize), but some studies have suggested that more chronic alcohol use results in a situation of more constant estrogen elevations.

http://www.benbest.com/health/alcohol.html

Both acute & chronic ethanol consumption increases serum estrogen and decreases serum androgen in both men & women. Many alcoholic men have irreversible atrophy of their testicles... [THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 86:282-288 (1989)].

http://www.amsa.org/resource/natlinit/alcohol.cfm

Moderate consumption of alcohol improves health and longevity in a number of ways. Alcohol improves blood lipid profile by increasing the HDL ("good") cholesterol and decreasing the LDL ("bad") cholesterol... It also reduces coronary artery spasm in response to stress, increases coronary blood flow, reduces blood pressure, reduces blood insulin level, and increases estrogen levels... American Medical Student Association

Also an interesting article:

http://www.marininstitute.org/alcohol_policy/french_drinking.htm

A growing number of French health researchers have news for the rest of the world: It is myth that the French are healthier than most everyone else because they drink. In truth, the French are drowning in the grape and paying a hefty price for it... The French drink one-and-a-half times more per capita than Americans and their death rate from liver cirrhosis is more than one-and-a-half times greater than that in the United States. According to WHO, France has the sixth highest adult per capita alcohol consumption in the world. (The U.S. ranks 32nd.) Alcohol may be involved in nearly half of the deaths from road accidents, half of all homicides, and one-quarter of suicides, according to the French equivalent of the U.S. Institutes of Health. And while coronary heart disease may be less pervasive in that country of 60 million people than in many others, it is still the number one cause of death... The high premature death rate of French men is largely due to alcohol abuse. It is nearly double the premature death rate of French women, and the magnitude of the difference is the highest in Europe, according to the French government's most recent report on health..

.

Now to play "devil's advocate"....

What about the proven positive effects of Resveratrol (a substance found in red wine) that has been shown to have a number of positive effects??? In fact, one (or maybe even more) study indicates that Resveratrol may even cancel out the heightened aromatase factor that alcohol in general seems to promote....

http://www.vrp.com/art/1623.asp

Resveratrol (3,5,4-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) (Fig. 1) is a compound found in the skins of red fruits, grapes, seeds, berries (especially, mulberries), peanuts, red wine, various herbs, and propolis (a natural honeybee product). Resveratrol occurs in two forms cis and trans resveratrol but it is the trans isomer that is biologically active... Resveratrol also acts as an estrogen receptor sensitizer (i.e., estrogen receptor agonist). (Gehm B, McAndrews J, Chien P, et al. Resveratrol, a polyphenolic compound found in grapes and wine, is an agonist for the estrogen receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1997, 94:138-43. - AND - Hao HD, He LR. Mechanisms of cardiovascular protection by resveratrol. J Med Food 2004, 7(3):290-8.) This means that resveratrol will help maintain normal levels of estrogen, and that what estrogen is available will work more efficiently, with fewer estrogenic side effects... Scientists at the City of Hope in Duarte, California, recently provided evidence that resveratrol is also a potent aromatase inhibitor. Aromatase is the enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen. (Eng ET, Ye J, Williams D, et al. Suppression of estrogen biosynthesis by procyanidin dimers in red wine and grape seeds. Cancer Res 2003, 63-(23)8516-22. - AND - Eng ET, Williams D, Mandava U, et al. Anti-aromatase chemicals in red wine. Ann NY Acad Sci 2002, 963:239-46.)

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract&artid=28446

Gehm B, McAndrews J, Chien P, et al. Resveratrol, a polyphenolic compound found in grapes and wine, is an agonist for the estrogen receptor. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1997, 94:138-43... Based on its structural similarity to diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogen, we examined whether resveratrol might be a phytoestrogen. At concentrations (?310 ?M) comparable to those required for its other biological effects, resveratrol inhibited the binding of labeled estradiol to the estrogen receptor...

Hao HD, He LR. Mechanisms of cardiovascular protection by resveratrol. J Med Food 2004, 7(3):290-8. - Unable to locate study...

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/full/63/23/8516

Eng ET, Ye J, Williams D, et al. Suppression of estrogen biosynthesis by procyanidin dimers in red wine and grape seeds. Cancer Res 2003, 63-(23)8516-22... Our results on white wine suggest a weak inductive effect of alcohol on aromatase activity (meaning white wine - like most alcohols - induces higher estrogens - Larry). However, the inductive effect of alcohol was not seen when aromatase activity was suppressed by chemicals in red wine. The opposite action of alcohol and phytochemicals in red wine on aromatase activity may complicate the evaluation of the effect of wine drinking... Therefore, we have set our goals to separate the effect of alcohol from the action of phytochemicals in red wine and to identify the chemicals in red wine that have the ability to suppress estrogen biosynthesis. The antiaromatase action of alcohol-free red wine extract has been examined using a transgenic mouse model in which aromatase is overexpressed in the mammary tissues (14) . It was found that, similar to the treatment with the selective and potent aromatase inhibitor letrozole, the intake of the extract by gavage completely abrogated aromatase-induced hyperplasia as well as other changes in the mammary tissue....

Eng ET; Williams D; Mandava U; Kirma N; Tekmal RR; Chen S - Division of Immunology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, California 91010, USA.... Basically is a repeat of the immediately above study...

So is Resveratrol an aromatase inhibitor - or an estrogen receptor sensitizer (i.e., estrogen receptor agonist)... or maybe both... or maybe neither to any real extent???

If so, maybe the clue here is to drink red wine in very moderate levels (1 - 2 glasses) daily?

Just more to think about and consider as to pros and cons...

Larry

 

[Brennon]

On a totally empirical aside, most people i know male and female have a major libido increase when hungover.

If im badly hungover ill come 5 or 6 times that day. I figured this was an LH rebound, and a factor of the anxiety from the hangover rebound also.

Any science guys?

I've always heard this is the reason for increased libido while drinking...LH increase. Serum test levels fall (I believe due to estrogen conversion), while LH increases to try to compensate. As a result you have increased libido but the inability too perform (if too drunk) because the test levels aren't there. At least, that's what I've always heard.