Is Testostorone Estrogenic, Do you have to take rpog. with testestorone Options

[Ethans NaNa]

Hi Ladies,

I have been taking testostorone and will be going off egtrogen again because I can't do progesterone. I bought Susan Rako's book "The Hormone of Desire" and she didn't mention having to take progesterone with testestorone. However I read in another book that testostorone can change into estradiol and therefore you need progesterone if you have your uterus. Which is right?

Thanks,
Ethan's Nana

[Iradan]

Hi Ladies,

I have been taking testostorone and will be going off egtrogen again because I can't do progesterone. I bought Susan Rako's book "The Hormone of Desire" and she didn't mention having to take progesterone with testestorone. However I read in another book that testostorone can change into estradiol and therefore you need progesterone if you have your uterus. Which is right?

Thanks,
Ethan's Nana

I believe it is true, natural testosterone is one of the precursors for estradiol. This is why it is hard to predict how bioidentical hormones are converted.
Check the link below for a complete chart of the steroid pathways.

Gonadal Steroid Hormones

Although many steroids are produced by the testes and the ovaries, the two most important are testosterone and estradiol. These compounds are under tight biosynthetic control, with short and long negative feedback loops that regulate the secretion of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) by the pituitary and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) by the hypothalamus. Low levels of circulating sex hormone reduce feedback inhibition on GnRH synthesis (the long loop), leading to elevated FSH and LH. The latter peptide hormones bind to gonadal tissue and stimulate P450ssc activity, resulting in sex hormone production via cAMP and PKA mediated pathways. The roles of cAMP and PKA in gonadal tissue are the same as that described for glucocorticoid production in the adrenals, but in this case adenylate cyclase activation is coupled to the binding of LH to plasma membrane receptors.
The biosynthetic pathway to sex hormones in male and female gonadal tissue includes the production of the androgens---androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone. Testes and ovaries contain an additional enzyme, a 17b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, that enables androgens to be converted to testosterone
In males, LH binds to Leydig cells, stimulating production of the principal Leydig cell hormone, testosterone. Testosterone is secreted to the plasma and also carried to Sertoli cells by androgen binding protein (ABP). In Sertoli cells the D-4 double bond of testosterone is reduced, producing dihydrotestosterone. Testosterone and dihydrotestosterone are carried in the plasma, and delivered to target tissue, by a specific gonadal-steroid binding globulin (GBG). In a number of target tissues, testosterone can be converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is the most potent of the male steroid hormones, with an activity that is 10 times that of testosterone. Because of its relatively lower potency, testosterone is sometimes considered to be a prohormone.

Synthesis of the male sex hormones in Leydig cells of the testis. P450SSC, 3b-DH, and P450c17 are the same enzymes as those needed for adrenal steroid hormone synthesis. 17,20-desmolase is the same as 17,20-lyase of adrenal hormone synthesis..

Testosterone is also produced by Sertoli cells but in these cells it is regulated by FSH, again acting through a cAMP- and PKA-regulatory pathway. In addition, FSH stimulates Sertoli cells to secrete androgen-binding protein (ABP), which transports testosterone and DHT from Leydig cells to sites of spermatogenesis. There, testosterone acts to stimulate protein synthesis and sperm development.
In females, LH binds to thecal cells of the ovary, where it stimulates the synthesis of androstenedione and testosterone by the usual cAMP- and PKA-regulated pathway. [b]An additional enzyme complex known as aromatase is responsible for the final conversion of the latter 2 molecules into the estrogens. Aromatase is a complex endoplasmic reticulum enzyme found in the ovary and in numerous other tissues in both males and females. Its action involves hydroxylations and dehydrations that culminate in aromatization of the A ring of the androgens.[/b]

Synthesis of the major female sex hormones in the ovary. Synthesis of testosterone and androstenedione from cholesterol occurs by the same pathways as indicated for synthesis of the male sex hormones.

Aromatase activity is also found in granulosa cells, but in these cells the activity is stimulated by FSH. Normally, thecal cell androgens produced in response to LH diffuse to granulosa cells, where granulosa cell aromatase converts these androgens to estrogens. As granulosa cells mature they develop competent large numbers of LH receptors in the plasma membrane and become increasingly responsive to LH, increasing the quantity of estrogen produced from these cells. Granulosa cell estrogens are largely, if not all, secreted into follicular fluid. Thecal cell estrogens are secreted largely into the circulation, where they are delivered to target tissue by the same globulin (GBG) used to transport testosterone.

http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/stero...ones.html#gonad

[Iradan]

Hi Ladies,

I have been taking testostorone and will be going off egtrogen again because I can't do progesterone. I bought Susan Rako's book "The Hormone of Desire" and she didn't mention having to take progesterone with testestorone. However I read in another book that testostorone can change into estradiol and therefore you need progesterone if you have your uterus. Which is right?

Thanks,
Ethan's Nana

I believe it is true, natural testosterone is one of the precursors for estradiol. This is why it is hard to predict how bioidentical hormones are converted.
Check the link below for a complete chart of the steroid pathways.

Gonadal Steroid Hormones

Although many steroids are produced by the testes and the ovaries, the two most important are testosterone and estradiol. These compounds are under tight biosynthetic control, with short and long negative feedback loops that regulate the secretion of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) by the pituitary and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) by the hypothalamus. Low levels of circulating sex hormone reduce feedback inhibition on GnRH synthesis (the long loop), leading to elevated FSH and LH. The latter peptide hormones bind to gonadal tissue and stimulate P450ssc activity, resulting in sex hormone production via cAMP and PKA mediated pathways. The roles of cAMP and PKA in gonadal tissue are the same as that described for glucocorticoid production in the adrenals, but in this case adenylate cyclase activation is coupled to the binding of LH to plasma membrane receptors.
The biosynthetic pathway to sex hormones in male and female gonadal tissue includes the production of the androgens---androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone. Testes and ovaries contain an additional enzyme, a 17b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, that enables androgens to be converted to testosterone
In males, LH binds to Leydig cells, stimulating production of the principal Leydig cell hormone, testosterone. Testosterone is secreted to the plasma and also carried to Sertoli cells by androgen binding protein (ABP). In Sertoli cells the D-4 double bond of testosterone is reduced, producing dihydrotestosterone. Testosterone and dihydrotestosterone are carried in the plasma, and delivered to target tissue, by a specific gonadal-steroid binding globulin (GBG). In a number of target tissues, testosterone can be converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is the most potent of the male steroid hormones, with an activity that is 10 times that of testosterone. Because of its relatively lower potency, testosterone is sometimes considered to be a prohormone.

Synthesis of the male sex hormones in Leydig cells of the testis. P450SSC, 3b-DH, and P450c17 are the same enzymes as those needed for adrenal steroid hormone synthesis. 17,20-desmolase is the same as 17,20-lyase of adrenal hormone synthesis..

Testosterone is also produced by Sertoli cells but in these cells it is regulated by FSH, again acting through a cAMP- and PKA-regulatory pathway. In addition, FSH stimulates Sertoli cells to secrete androgen-binding protein (ABP), which transports testosterone and DHT from Leydig cells to sites of spermatogenesis. There, testosterone acts to stimulate protein synthesis and sperm development.
In females, LH binds to thecal cells of the ovary, where it stimulates the synthesis of androstenedione and testosterone by the usual cAMP- and PKA-regulated pathway. [b]An additional enzyme complex known as aromatase is responsible for the final conversion of the latter 2 molecules into the estrogens. Aromatase is a complex endoplasmic reticulum enzyme found in the ovary and in numerous other tissues in both males and females. Its action involves hydroxylations and dehydrations that culminate in aromatization of the A ring of the androgens.[/b]

Synthesis of the major female sex hormones in the ovary. Synthesis of testosterone and androstenedione from cholesterol occurs by the same pathways as indicated for synthesis of the male sex hormones.

Aromatase activity is also found in granulosa cells, but in these cells the activity is stimulated by FSH. Normally, thecal cell androgens produced in response to LH diffuse to granulosa cells, where granulosa cell aromatase converts these androgens to estrogens. As granulosa cells mature they develop competent large numbers of LH receptors in the plasma membrane and become increasingly responsive to LH, increasing the quantity of estrogen produced from these cells. Granulosa cell estrogens are largely, if not all, secreted into follicular fluid. Thecal cell estrogens are secreted largely into the circulation, where they are delivered to target tissue by the same globulin (GBG) used to transport testosterone.

http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/stero...ones.html#gonad