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17.10.2020

DHEA supplements increase IGF-1 levels

In this study, supplementation with DHEA does not stimulate muscle growth, but in the other one it does. So what is it? The meta-study by researchers at Xiangya Third Hospital of Central South University does not provide a definitive answer to this question. However, the Chinese data make it more likely that DHEA may indeed have a muscle strengthening effect under some circumstances.

Study
The researchers traced 24 previously published trials in which subjects had received DHEA, and in which researchers had determined the effect on IGF-1 levels. The researchers aggregated the results of those studies and re-analyzed them.

Results
DHEA supplementation increased IGF-1 levels by an average of 16 nanograms per milliliter.

When the researchers separated the data on men from that on women, they saw that DHEA supplementation led to a significant increase in IGF-1 levels only in women. In women, DHEA increased IGF-1 levels by an average of 23 nanograms per milliliter.

The figure below has been simplified. Click on it for a full version.

The figure above gives you an idea of ​​the average concentration of IGF-1 in the blood of men and women who are not taking DHEA. [PLoS One. 2017 Oct 4;12(10):e0185561.] It therefore also gives you an idea of the magnitude of the effect of DHEA supplementation.

In most studies, the subjects were given a dose of 50 milligrams of DHEA per day. The evidence of an increase in IGF-1 levels was strongest in subjects over 60.

Source:
Exp Gerontol. 2020 Jul 15;136:110949.

More:
Hormonal impact DHEA modest in men, significant in women 23.02.2020
DHEA-supplementation boosts post-interval training anabolism 15.04.2013
Fifty milligrams of DHEA a day has anabolic effect in women 13.07.2009

Archives:
Growth Hormone & IGF-1
DHEA

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