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12.03.2022

How vitamin D increases testosterone levels

Readers of this website are well aware that an adequate vitamin D level is associated with a relatively high testosterone level. Today we came across a test-tube study that shows how vitamin D prompts Leydig's cells to produce more testosterone.

Study
In 2014, endocrinologists at the Medical University of Graz published an in vitro study in which they exposed human Leydig cells to high, but not impossible, concentrations of calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D [1,25(OH)2D3].

The same researchers have also published epidemiological studies in which high vitamin D levels correlated with high testosterone levels, and a trial in which vitamin D supplementation increased testosterone levels in obese men.

Results
When the researchers brought Leydig cells into contact with the active form of vitamin D, the cells produced more testosterone.

LH also increased the production of testosterone by the Leydig cells. This stimulating effect of LH was increased in combination with vitamin D.

The figure below gives you an idea of how calcitriol increases the release of testosterone. The active form of vitamin D increased the activity of the enzymes HSD3B2 and CYP11A1. [Figure]

Conclusion
"Taking into account the potential association of vitamin D with semen quality and androgen status in men and the up-regulation of steroidogenic genes by 1,25(OH)2D3 in our human testicular primary cell culture model, vitamin D, within physiological limits, might open up an important treatment option in male testosterone deficiency in the future", summarize the researchers.

Source:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 Oct;99(10):3766-73.

More:
High vitamin D level = high testosterone level 01.02.2010

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