Trial reportEBioMedicine2019
Effects of testosterone supplementation on body composition and lower-body muscle function during severe exercise- and diet-induced energy deficit: A proof-of-concept, single centre, randomised, double-blind, controlled trial.
Trial report in EBioMedicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02734238 (Physiological and Psychological Effects of Testosterone During Severe Energy Deficit and Recovery), which is not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Physiological and Psychological Effects of Testosterone During Severe Energy Deficit and Recovery: a Randomized, Placebo Controlled Trial
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mapping smart technologies and nutritional strategies for monitoring cognitive resilience in military personnel under extreme operational conditions: a scoping review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Testosterone replacement in men with sexual dysfunction.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- A systematic review of hormone levels, biomarkers of cellular injury and oxidative stress in multi-stressor military field training exercises.Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2022Pooled it
- Testosterone administration partially modulates gut microbiota responses to severe energy deficit.American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Trial
- Effects of testosterone enanthate on aggression, risk-taking, competition, mood, and other cognitive domains during 28 days of severe energy deprivation.Psychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- Bioelectrical impedance phase angle is associated with physical performance before but not after simulated multi-stressor military operations.Physiological reports · 2023Trial
- Metabolomics of testosterone enanthate administration during severe-energy deficit.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2022Trial
- Stress-associated testosterone suppression: central adaptation or hypogonadism?The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Review
- The effect of nandrolone decanoate administration on fatigue during a volume-overload stress in male mice.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Changes in hormonal profiles during competition preparation in physique athletes.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of circulating metabolomic profiles identifies shared metabolic alterations across distinct multistressor military training exercises.Physiological genomics · 2024Article
- Comparing the Impacts of Testosterone and Exercise on Lean Body Mass, Strength and Aerobic Fitness in Aging Men.Sports medicine - open · 2024Review
- Testosterone and neurobehavioral outcomes in special operations forces military with multiple mild traumatic brain injury.NeuroRehabilitation · 2024Article
- New Horizons: Testosterone or Exercise for Cardiometabolic Health in Older Men.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2023Article
- Human skeletal muscle-specific atrophy with aging: a comprehensive review.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2023Review
- Myocytic androgen receptor overexpression does not affect sex differences in adaptation to chronic endurance exercise.Biology of sex differences · 2022Article
- Testosterone status following short-term, severe energy deficit is associated with fat-free mass loss in U.S. Marines.Physiological reports · 2022Article
- Testosterone undecanoate administration prevents declines in fat-free mass but not physical performance during simulated multi-stressor military operations.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2022Article
- Lean mass sparing in resistance-trained athletes during caloric restriction: the role of resistance training volume.European journal of applied physiology · 2022Review
- Testosterone Therapy and Diaphragm Performance in a Male Patient with COVID-19: A Case Report.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
17 authors at 8 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSevere energy deficits during military operations, produced by significant increases in exercise and limited dietary intake, result in conditions that degrade lean body mass and lower-body muscle function, which may be mediated by concomitant reductions in circulating testosterone.
methodsWe conducted a three-phase, proof-of-concept, single centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (CinicalTrials.gov, NCT02734238) of non-obese men: 14-d run-in, free-living, eucaloric diet phase; 28-d live-in, 55% exercise- and diet-induced energy deficit phase with (200 mg testosterone enanthate per week, Testosterone, n = 24) or without (Placebo, n = 26) exogenous testosterone; and 14-d recovery, free-living, ad libitum diet phase. Body composition was the primary end point; secondary endpoints included lower-body muscle function and health-related biomarkers.
findingsFollowing energy deficit, lean body mass increased in Testosterone and remained stable in Placebo, such that lean body mass significantly differed between groups [mean difference between groups (95% CI), 2.5 kg (3.3, 1.6); P < .0001]. Fat mass decreased similarly in both treatment groups [0.2 (-0.4, 0.7), P = 1]. Change in lean body mass was associated with change in total testosterone (r = 0.71, P < .0001). Supplemental testosterone had no effect on lower-body muscle function or health-related biomarkers.
interpretationFindings suggest that supplemental testosterone may increase lean body mass during short-term severe energy deficit in non-obese, young men, but it does not appear to attenuate lower-body functional decline.
fundingCollaborative Research to Optimize Warfighter Nutrition projects I and II, Joint Program Committee-5, funded by the US Department of Defence.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.