Comparison of androgenic effects on food intake and body weight in adult rats

In order to investigate the interrelationships between sex hormones, food intake, and body weight, three androgens (testosterone propionate (TP), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and androstenedione (ANDR)) were administered to separate groups of gonadectomized adult rats of both sexes. In males TP increased body weight to the greatest degree, while the effects of DHT, a non-aromatizable androgen, and ANDR were approximately equal to each other. The relationship between each androgen and food intake partly paralleled that of body weight. In females, however, DHT exerted a stronger effect on body weight than TP, and ANDR produced no significant increases: food intake was stimulated by both TP and DHT. As others have indicated, aromatization of testosterone to estrogen then is not critical to the effect of androgens on either food intake or body weight. Furthermore, the fact that increases in body weight are not always accompanied by concomitant changes in food intake suggests that gonadal hormones may exert their effects on body weight primarily through various metabolic processes, not simply through changes in food intake.