ArticleScientific reports2018
Testosterone boosts physical activity in male mice via dopaminergic pathways.
Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Dysregulation of neuronal androgen receptor signaling by divergent collaborative transcription factors in Alzheimer's disease.iScience · 2026Article
- A novel model to study the impact of gender-affirming therapy on bone in young male mice.Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research · 2026Article
- Direct Intra-Accumbens 17 Beta-Estradiol Administration Increases Voluntary Wheel Running in Ovariectomized Rats.Neuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Age-related microbiome metabolites alter RNA splicing and chromatin accessibility in the brain.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Testosterone and Obesity in an Aging Society.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- Depression and anxiety symptom networks in hemorrhoid patients: evidence from the UK biobank.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- The role of androgens and global and tissue-specific androgen receptor expression on body composition, exercise adaptation, and performance.Biology of sex differences · 2025Review
- Exploring the Top 50 Drugs Associated with Restless Legs Syndrome Based on the FDA Data from 2004 to 2024.Nature and science of sleep · 2025Article
- Orchiectomy Decreases Locomotor Activity and Delays the Expression of the Clock Protein PER1 in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus in Rabbits.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Musculoskeletal and body composition response to high-dose testosterone with finasteride after chronic incomplete spinal cord injury-a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled pilot study.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- The Utility of Preclinical Models in Understanding the Bone Health of Transgender Individuals Undergoing Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy.Current osteoporosis reports · 2023Review
- Article
- Myocytic androgen receptor overexpression does not affect sex differences in adaptation to chronic endurance exercise.Biology of sex differences · 2022Article
- The Effect of a Combination ofNutrients · 2022Article
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- Testosterone Reduces Body Fat in Male Mice by Stimulation of Physical Activity Via Extrahypothalamic ERα Signaling.Endocrinology · 2021Article
- Myofiber androgen receptor increases muscle strength mediated by a skeletal muscle splicing variant of Mylk4.iScience · 2021Article
- Sex and Pubertal Status Influence Dendritic Spine Density on Frontal Corticostriatal Projection Neurons in Mice.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2020Article
- Changes in nucleus accumbens gene expression accompany sex-specific suppression of spontaneous physical activity in aromatase knockout mice.Hormones and behavior · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Low testosterone (T) in men, especially its free fraction, has been associated with loss of energy. In accordance, orchidectomy (ORX) in rodents results in decreased physical activity. Still, the mechanisms through which T stimulates activity remain mostly obscure. Here, we studied voluntary wheel running behavior in three different mouse models of androgen deficiency: ORX, androgen receptor (AR) knock-out (ARKO) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG)-transgenic mice, a novel mouse model of "low free T". Our results clearly show a fast and dramatic action of T stimulating wheel running, which is not explained by its action on muscle, as evidenced by neuromuscular studies and in a muscle-specific conditional ARKO mouse model. The action of T occurs via its free fraction, as shown by the results in SHBG-transgenic mice, and it implies both androgenic and estrogenic pathways. Both gene expression and functional studies indicate that T modulates the in vivo sensitivity to dopamine (DA) agonists. Furthermore, the restoration of wheel running by T is inhibited by treatment with DA antagonists. These findings reveal that the free fraction of T, both via AR and indirectly through aromatization into estrogens, stimulates physical activity behavior in male mice by acting on central DA pathways.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.