does creatine increase dht

Three weeks of creatine monohydrate supplementation affects dihydrotestosterone to testosterone ratio in college-aged rugby players

What's not known to me is what effect circulating DHT has. DHT is usually manufactured from Testosterone in the Androgen Receptor (AR) which is going to use it, i.e. at point of use, and the serum DHT levels are much lower than serum Testosterone levels. I don't know if circulating DHT can be taken up by the AR's which normally manufacture it in situ (prostate, seminal vesicles, and hair follicles). Maybe the increased circulating DHT is because these AR's couldn't use it having manufactured it? I don't know if other AR's which would normally use Testoserone directly without converting it to DHT can use circulating DHT instead. These would be interesting questions for an endocrinologist or maybe andrologist.

Edited by member 09 Feb 2023 at 05:35  | Reason: Not specified

Many hair follicles on your body respond to Testosterone (or rather the DHT they manufacture from Testosterone, but I'll just say Testosterone here for simplicity). However, the effects are different (and even completely opposite in some cases) depending on where the hair is. This response also varies with Testosterone levels - AR's (Androgen Receptors) are polymorphic, meaning different AR's respond to very different levels of Testosterone.

Most obviously, Testosterone causes the start of growth of pubic and axillary hair, and at a higher level found in men and not usually women, facial hair. It also causes body hair to grow on arms, legs, chest. The hair on your head grows without Testosterone, but Testosterone has the opposite effect on these hair follicles, causing the thinning of hair strands to the extent of loss of viable hair in many cases.

An even larger impact is genetic. Different races grow different amounts of facial hair and body hair. Even within the same race, some men become profoundly bald, while others lose no hair - again this is genetic.

The interesting thing about being on hormone therapy is that you can see many (but not necessarily all) of these effects reverse. Many men will lose their body hair, and even find their balding reverses. However, it is rarer to lose pubes or beard, but common for them to grow much slower. One of the treatments for balding is Finasteride which prevents AR's from being able to convert Testosterone to DHT, so your hair follicles see a reduction in effects from Testosterone/DHT. It's also used (at higher doses) to shrink enlarged prostates using exactly the same mechanism.

I had naively assumed I didn't have high levels of Testosterone as I wasn't particularly hairy on the body to start with, and have never shown any signs of balding or even thinning on top. As a result of PCa treatments, I do now know what my natural Testosterone level is, and it's relatively high, so this shows there are factors at play too such as genetics which trump the effects of Testosterone.

Edited by member 09 Feb 2023 at 17:30  | Reason: Not specified