TNE question

[JA Battle]

@Cataceous would you suspect propionate, suspension, or TNE (these having higher peaks/shorter duration) to result in higher preferential 5ar or aromatase interaction vs longer esters (lower peaks/longer duration)? Do you think the rate of enzyme interaction is the same or is any differences likely to be negligible?

 

[Cataceous]

@Cataceous would you suspect propionate, suspension, or TNE (these having higher peaks/shorter duration) to result in higher preferential 5ar or aromatase interaction vs longer esters (lower peaks/longer duration)? Do you think the rate of enzyme interaction is the same or is any differences likely to be negligible?

One line of thought is the that average levels for these metabolites are pretty similar when the same amounts of testosterone are used. However, peak and trough levels may be attenuated relative to testosterone—lower peaks, higher troughs—when testosterone varies relatively quickly. Both estradiol and DHT have longer serum half-lives than testosterone, which may contribute to this effect. The implications for subjective results aren't so clear. Anecdotally guys have reported less estrogenic action when using testosterone propionate versus longer esters. If this effect is real then is it related to a lower E2:T ratio in the upper part of the cycle, in spite of a higher E2:T ratio in the lower part of the cycle? Alternatively, or in addition, is the time spent with lower absolute estradiol important?

 

[Cataceous]

One other factor in this is saturation effects. If the faster acting testosterone is pushing serum testosterone into the supraphysiological realm, i.e. much over 1,000 ng/dL, then the incremental production rate of the metabolites is reduced. That is, the—finite—enzymes that convert testosterone are more and more tied up as testosterone increases, so each extra increment of testosterone results in less additional metabolite production than the previous increment.

In these instances longer esters actually result in higher average production of the metabolites. However, at least subjectively the effect may well be negligible when compared to the differences caused by dramatic oscillations in the hormone levels.