I just posted this in another thread, but this is extremely relevant to your concerns as well. Copy & pasted from the other thread.
I actually was reading through studies on ncbi pub med on testosterone enanthate the other day and came across a study that showed that genetic variation in the PDE7B gene was associated with varying serum levels of testosterone. The study gave a 500 mg test-e injection and then sampled 2 days later. Individuals homozygous for PDE7B rs7774640 G allele had a smaller increase (2.5-fold) in the serum testosterone levels compared with carriers of the A allele (3.9-fold, P=0.0006).
Here is the conclusion of the article (copy & pasted) :
We have shown that PDE7B is involved in the hydrolysis of testosterone enanthate and that genetic variation in the PDE7B gene is a determinant of the systemic levels of testosterone after administration of testosterone enanthate. It is reasonable to believe that the genetic variation in testosterone bioavailability may be correlated to varying effects of this androgen, whether it is used for replacement therapy or abused in doping. Thus our results may be important to consider in doping test programmes and in therapeutics with androgens and other esterified drugs.
So it looks like there is quite a large variation just based off this one gene variation that can account for a massive difference in blood testosterone levels, from the exact same dosage. 2.5 FOLD increase VS 3.9 FOLD increase -- Quite significant.
So obviously there is no hard & fast "rule" for this much injected = this much blood level. And this was just ONE genetic factor that caused such a big difference. Extrapolating on that, imagine if there are many OTHER factors that lead to significant differences. Based on that, showing ONE blood test, taken at ONE single time, that does indeed show levels BEYOND the normal maximum, doesn't really prove a whole lot.
Here's the address to read the study yourself.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21383644
Even though you mention no conclusions should be made from ONE TT level, it's ironic how you seem fine doing exactly that by "extrapolating" the results from this SINGLE ABSTRACT.
Did you extrapolate the "A allele" occurrence rate to arrive at your conclusion!
The fact is the abstract does not mention many of the variables required to formulate ANY conclusion such as; the number of subjects, the TT assay utilized, and most importantly their observed "A allele" occurrence rate.
Oh and let's not overlook the abstract fails to mention why only a fixed TT dose of 250mg was used, since changing the dose is needed to determine the kinetics of the involved enzymes and establish causation!
Finally once again this study changes NOTHING, except perhaps provide an explanation about WHY TT levels may vary between individual TRT patients.
But the FACT remains based on multiple TRT studies the average TT peak level approximate 8-12 X the dose, and any variance from that norm requires further explanation or study.
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