Strength training with suppressed testosterone level

Human subjects were randomized for treatment with a GnRH-analogue, Goserelin, which suppresses endogenous testosterone or placebo for 12 weeks. Strength training was performed during the last 8 weeks. The suppression of testosterone resulted in an attenuation of the normal muscle adaptation to strength training (increased muscle mass and strength). To identify molecular signals involved in the response to testosterone levels, biopsies were obtained 4 hours after the last training session and gene expression compared with Affymetrix 3' microarrays. This timepoint should capture goserelin effect on both constitutive expression, training induced changes as well as acute exercise induced (4 hours) differences in mRNA levels. Four subject from the placebo group and five subjects from the Goserelin group were compared. Total RNA from vastus lateralis mmuscle biopsies were purified and analyzed on Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2.0 arrays.