Influence of Androgens on Circulating Adiponectin in Male and Female Rodents

Several endocrine factors, including sex-steroid hormones are known to influence adiponectin secretion. Our purpose was to evaluate the influence of testosterone and of the synthetic non-aromatizable/non-5α reducible androgen 17β-hydroxyestra-4,9,11-trien-3-one (trenbolone) on circulating adiponectin and adiponectin protein expression within visceral fat. Young male and female F344 rats underwent sham surgery (SHAM), gonadectomy (GX), or GX plus supraphysiologic testosterone-enanthate (TE) administration. Total circulating adiponectin was 39% higher in intact SHAM females than SHAM males (p<0.05). GX increased total adiponectin by 29–34% in both sexes (p<0.05), while TE reduced adiponectin to concentrations that were 46–53% below respective SHAMs (p≤0.001) and ablated the difference in adiponectin between sexes. No differences in high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin were observed between sexes or treatments. Adiponectin concentrations were highly and negatively associated with serum testosterone (males: r = −0.746 and females: r = −0.742, p≤0.001); however, no association was present between adiponectin and estradiol. In separate experiments, trenbolone-enanthate (TREN) prevented the GX-induced increase in serum adiponectin (p≤0.001) in young animals, with Low-dose TREN restoring adiponectin to the level of SHAMs and higher doses of TREN reducing adiponectin to below SHAM concentrations (p≤0.001). Similarly, TREN reduced adiponectin protein expression within visceral fat (p<0.05). In adult GX males, Low-dose TREN also reduced total adiponectin and visceral fat mass to a similar magnitude as TE, while increasing serum HMW adiponectin above SHAM and GX animals (p<0.05). Serum adiponectin was positively associated with visceral fat mass in young (r = 0.596, p≤0.001) and adult animals (r = 0.657, p≤0.001). Our results indicate that androgens reduce circulating total adiponectin concentrations in a dose-dependent manner, while maintaining HMW adiponectin. This change is directionally similar to the androgen-induced lipolytic effects on visceral adiposity and equal in magnitude between TE and TREN, suggesting that neither the aromatization nor the 5α reduction of androgens is required for this effect.