What does it do to testosterone?

What this archive is for. Trials of the compound come first, ranked by how many people were actually given it. Studies that only observed people are below them and labelled.

1. 01TriptorelinPeptideStrong. At least two finished studies in people, and at least 1,000 people who took it. 4 completed trials, 1,388 people given it.5 reported

   1,388 people given it3 trials

   • Triptorelin reliably shuts testosterone down in men with advanced prostate cancer. Researchers pooled 920 men from nine studies and tracked testosterone for a year. About eight in ten were fully suppressed after one month, and about nine in ten from three months onward. This adds up nine studies. It is not one study where people were split into groups by chance, whatever the PubMed listing implies. There was no untreated group to compare against.

     The numbers Pooled analysis of 920 men from nine prospective studies, with testosterone as the primary endpoint. The proportion reaching testosterone below 20 ng/dL was 79 percent at month 1, then 92, 93, 90 and 91 percent at months 3, 6, 9 and 12. This is a pooled analysis of prospective studies, not itself a randomised trial, despite how PubMed indexes it, and it should not be cited as one.

     Advances in Therapy, 2017· 920 people

   • This trial is about when to give radiotherapy, not about triptorelin, and it found no advantage in giving it early. Triptorelin was the hormone treatment handed to both groups, so it was never the thing being tested. 424 men who had had prostate surgery were assigned to immediate radiotherapy or to waiting until their cancer marker rose. Six years on, about the same share in each group were free of events. The men treated immediately had far more urinary problems and erectile trouble. Read the assignment before reading the result.

     The numbers 424 men randomised after radical prostatectomy to adjuvant radiotherapy or to early salvage radiotherapy on biochemical relapse, with triptorelin given as background androgen deprivation to both arms. 5 year event free survival was 92 percent against 90 percent (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.36, log-rank p=0.42), so no advantage to treating immediately, while late grade 2 or worse genitourinary toxicity ran 59 percent against 22 percent. Enrolment was stopped early for unexpectedly low event rates. Triptorelin was never the variable under test, which is why this trial is frequently and wrongly listed as triptorelin evidence: it reports on radiotherapy timing.

     The Lancet Oncology, 2020· 424 people

   • The six month injection held back puberty in children who had started it far too early. 44 children who had never been treated, 39 girls and five boys, were given the long acting form across 18 centres. By six months, 41 of them had hormone levels back in the prepubertal range, and by a year almost all did. Everybody knew what they were getting and there was no comparison group. What was measured is a hormone level, not how tall these children ended up as adults.

     The numbers International phase 3 study at 18 centres in the United States, Chile and Mexico, in 44 treatment-naive children, 39 girls and five boys. 41 of 44 (93.2 percent) had prepubertal stimulated luteinising hormone at or below 5 IU/L at month 6, rising to 97.7 percent at month 12. Note the design: non-comparative and open-label, with no control group, and the endpoint is hormone suppression rather than adult height.

     Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2016· 44 people

   What people using it report

   • The described use is a single small injection, commonly 100 mcg, meant as a one off kick to restart the body's own testosterone after it was shut down. It is explicitly contrasted with the multi milligram monthly amounts used clinically to shut that same axis down, and the difference between a pulse and continuous exposure is the whole basis of the idea.
2. 02DegarelixPeptideModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 2 completed trials, 610 people given it.3 reported

   610 people given it1 trial

   • Degarelix shut testosterone down as well as the older drug and did it far faster. 610 men with prostate cancer, typically in their early seventies, got one of two degarelix schedules or a monthly leuprolide injection. By a year, nearly all men in every group were fully suppressed. The difference showed at day three, when almost every degarelix patient was already suppressed and not one leuprolide patient was. The catch is the injection. Four in ten degarelix patients reacted at the injection site, against almost nobody on leuprolide.

     The numbers 610 men with prostate adenocarcinoma, median age 72, randomised to two degarelix regimens or monthly intramuscular leuprolide. Testosterone at or below 0.5 ng/mL at every monthly measurement from day 28 to day 364 in 97.2, 98.3 and 96.4 percent respectively, meeting non-inferiority. At day 3, testosterone was at or below 0.5 ng/mL in 96.1 and 95.5 percent of degarelix patients and in none on leuprolide. Injection site reactions 40 percent with subcutaneous degarelix versus under 1 percent with intramuscular leuprolide, P below 0.001.

     BJU International, 2008· 610 people

3. 03LeuprolidePeptideModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 2 completed trials, 199 people given it.3 reported

   199 people given it1 trial

   • It matched the older treatment and was far easier to live with. A hundred and ninety nine men with prostate cancer that had spread took either leuprolide or the oestrogen drug used at the time. Both shut testosterone down about as well. The men on leuprolide had much less breast growth, sickness and swelling, and far fewer dangerous blood clots. That is why this kind of drug replaced the older one. Two treatments were compared here, so neither group went without.

     The numbers 199 patients: leuprolide suppressed testosterone comparably to DES with far fewer gynecomastia, nausea, edema and thromboembolic events.

     New England Journal of Medicine, 1984· 199 people

4. 04GonadorelinPeptideModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 3 completed trials, 110 people given it.8 reported

   110 people given it3 trials

   • Pulsed gonadorelin brought hormones back in nearly every man, but fertility depended on his history. 76 men missing a hormone signal wore a pump that gave a small dose every one to two hours for up to two years. Testosterone and the pituitary signal came back to normal in almost all. Men who had been through some puberty ended with normal testicle size and sperm. The 52 who never had puberty did not, and about one in five still had no sperm. Undescended testicles in childhood predicted that failure.

     The numbers 76 men on pulsatile GnRH at 5 to 25 ng/kg per pulse for 12 to 24 months. LH normalized in 97 percent and testosterone in 93 percent. Men with some prior puberty reached normal testis size, FSH, inhibin B and sperm in the ejaculate; the 52 with none did not, ending at 11 plus or minus 0.4 mL testicular volume, a median sperm count of 3 million per mL and 18 percent still azoospermic at 24 months. Prior cryptorchidism and low baseline inhibin B predicted failure.

     Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2002· 76 people

   • The pump got sperm going sooner, but no more men got there in the end. 28 men producing no sperm were compared: 10 wore a gonadorelin pump and 18 took the usual hormone injections. Nobody was assigned by chance, so the groups were not built alike. First sperm appeared at about six months on the pump against fourteen on injections. By the end roughly nine in ten succeeded either way, a gap too small to call. Skin redness and hardening at the pump site was common.

     The numbers Nonrandomized comparison in 28 azoospermic men: 10 on a pulsatile gonadorelin pump and 18 on cyclical hCG and hMG. Median time to first spermatogenesis 6 against 14 months (p=.01), but the eventual rates, 90 percent against 83.3 percent, differed significantly in neither the superiority nor the non-inferiority test. Allergic skin erythema and scleroma at the infusion site was a common pump side effect. The authors declared no conflicts.

     American Journal of Men's Health, 2019· 28 people

   • Given the way the body gives it, in pulses from a pump, gonadorelin restarted puberty in men whose brains were not signalling. Six men with this condition wore a pump delivering small doses under the skin. Their pituitary hormones were normal within a week. Testosterone rose from 77 to 520 units over a month, into the normal range. Three of the six began producing sperm. Everybody got the treatment, so there is nothing to compare against, and six men is a very small group.

     The numbers Pulsatile subcutaneous GnRH by pump normalized gonadotropins within a week, raised testosterone from 77 to 520 ng/dL in one month and produced spermatogenesis in three of six hypogonadotropic men.

     New England Journal of Medicine, 1982· 6 people

   What people using it report

   • Discussed almost entirely as a substitute for HCG on testosterone replacement rather than on its own terms, and the verdict from the more experienced posters is that it is a poor substitute.
   • One specific objection recurs. Testosterone therapy raises estrogen, and that estrogen dulls the gland at the base of the brain that this drug is meant to wake up. So pulses of it do little unless something else changes. That is why it is usually described alongside an estrogen blocking pill such as enclomiphene rather than alone.
5. 05Kisspeptin-10PeptideLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 4 completed trials, 44 people given it.8 reported

   5 people given it2 trials, 1 watch-only

   • This study used kisspeptin-54, which is a different molecule from the kisspeptin-10 people buy. It was the first time any kisspeptin was given to humans. Six men received a 90 minute drip, and the two pituitary hormones that drive the testes went up, and so did testosterone. Six men is a very small group, everybody got the drug, and the measurements are hormones in blood over an hour and a half. Nothing here transfers automatically to kisspeptin-10.

     The numbers Kisspeptin-54, not kisspeptin-10. First human kisspeptin study: a 90-minute infusion significantly raised LH, FSH and testosterone in six men.

     Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2005· 6 peopleobserved only, nobody was given it

   • The same dose of kisspeptin-10 does completely different things in men and women. In men, a single injection raised the hormones that drive the testes at very low doses. In women in the first half of their cycle, nothing happened, even at much higher doses given three different ways. In women close to ovulation, the hormones did rise. Only four or five people were tested at each dose. There is no single number for what this peptide does.

     The numbers 4 to 5 subjects per group: LH and FSH rose in men from 0.3 and 1.0 nmol/kg intravenously, but women in the follicular phase showed no gonadotropin change at up to 10 nmol/kg intravenously, 32 nmol/kg subcutaneously or 720 pmol/kg per minute by infusion. Preovulatory women did respond.

     Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2011· 5 people

   • Kisspeptin-10 switches on the hormone system that drives testosterone. Healthy men were given a single injection into a vein, and the pituitary hormone that tells the testes to work tripled within half an hour. A longer drip lasting most of a day raised that hormone and testosterone, and made the natural pulses come more often. These are blood measurements over hours. Nobody was followed to see whether fertility, mood, muscle or anything else changed.

     The numbers IV bolus kisspeptin-10 tripled LH in healthy men within 30 minutes; a 22.5-hour infusion raised LH and testosterone and increased LH pulse frequency.

     Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2011· number of people not given

   What people using it report

   • The question people arrive with is almost always whether it can stand in for hCG while on testosterone replacement, usually because hCG became unavailable or unaffordable to them. The answer they get from more experienced posters and moderators is consistently that it cannot, on the grounds that it acts higher up the same chain. So the shut down caused by the testosterone they are taking blocks it too.
   • No-effect reports are present and specific. Someone running it for a month and seeing no movement in luteinising hormone or total testosterone is a pattern rather than an outlier, and testicular size, which is the outcome several people say they actually wanted, is repeatedly described as not changing over months.
6. 06CetrorelixPeptideModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 1 completed trial, 564 people given it.3 reported

   nobody was given it1 watch-only study

   • In fertility treatment the newer drug did the same job with less of everything. Women having their ovaries stimulated were split by chance between cetrorelix and the older drug, buserelin. Cetrorelix stopped the early hormone surge that ruins an egg collection cycle, with a surge in only 1.6 of every hundred women. They needed fewer days of injections and less of the stimulating hormone. Fewer days and fewer vials is a shorter, cheaper cycle. The trial measured the cycle, not how many babies were born.

     The numbers Cetrorelix prevented premature LH surges (1.6% LH rise) with fewer gonadotropin ampoules and stimulation days than buserelin.

     Human Reproduction, 2000· number of people not givenobserved only, nobody was given it

Vitamins, minerals, amino acids and botanicals sold over the counter, held to the same standard.

1. 01ForskolinSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 2 completed trials, 53 people given it.5 reported

   30 people given it1 trial

   • Body fat fell and testosterone rose, in thirty overweight men. The men all had a body mass index of 26 or above and took 250 mg of a 10 percent forskolin extract twice a day, or a dummy, decided by chance, for 12 weeks. Scans showed body fat percentage and fat mass dropped against the dummy group. Bone mass changed and free testosterone rose. Muscle gain leaned upward but was too small to separate from chance. That is fifteen men per group, and the companion study in women found nothing.

     The numbers 30 men with BMI at or above 26, randomised double-blind to 250 mg of a 10 percent forskolin extract twice daily or placebo for 12 weeks. Body fat percentage and fat mass on DXA fell significantly against placebo, bone mass changed significantly, serum free testosterone rose significantly, and lean body mass showed a non-significant trend upward (p equals 0.097). Fifteen participants per arm.

     Obesity Research, 2005· 30 people

Approved drugs, biologics and hormones that have been measured for this. They are here because leaving them out would misrepresent the evidence, and they are below the peptides because that is not what most people come here to read.

1. 01TestosteroneHormoneModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 1 completed trial, 5,246 people given it.10 reported

   5,246 people given it1 trial, 1 watch-only1 found nothing

   • Testosterone did not raise the risk of heart attacks or strokes in the men most likely to have one. More than 5,000 men aged 45 to 80 took part. All had low testosterone with symptoms, and all were already at risk of heart trouble. Half rubbed on a testosterone gel and half a dummy gel. After about three years, heart deaths, heart attacks and strokes were about as common in each group. This was a gel held to a target blood level, not a home shot.

     The numbers TRAVERSE. 5,246 men aged 45 to 80 with preexisting or high risk of cardiovascular disease, symptoms of hypogonadism and two fasting testosterone levels below 300 ng/dL, randomised double-blind to transdermal testosterone gel titrated to 350 to 750 ng/dL or placebo. Mean treatment 21.7 months, mean follow-up 33.0 months. Primary composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction or non-fatal stroke occurred in 182 (7.0%) on testosterone and 190 (7.3%) on placebo, hazard ratio 0.96 (95% CI 0.78 to 1.17), p < 0.001 for non-inferiority.

     New England Journal of Medicine, 2023· 5,246 people

   • found nothingTestosterone helped older men with sex and did much less for everything else. It raised their levels to what a man in his twenties or thirties would have. Sex drive, sexual activity and erections all clearly got better. Energy did not get better at all. Walking distance only improved when three studies were lumped together, which is a weaker way to find a result. Mood was slightly better. Side effects were no more common than on the dummy gel.

     The numbers The T-Trials. Treatment raised testosterone into the mid-normal range for men aged 19 to 40. Sexual activity, sexual desire and erectile function all improved significantly. Vitality did not improve on the fatigue scale. The proportion improving 6-minute walking distance by at least 50 m did not differ in the Physical Function Trial but did when all three trials were pooled, 20.5% against 12.6%, p = 0.003. Mood and depressive symptoms were slightly better. Adverse event rates were similar.

     New England Journal of Medicine, 2016· number of people not givenobserved only, nobody was given it

   What people using it report

   • Oestradiol, the main estrogen, is discussed in both directions and this is a point experienced posters correct newcomers on constantly: pushing it down is described as producing its own set of problems, including low libido and mental fog, so the target described is a range rather than a floor.
2. 02Testosterone cypionateHormoneModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 1 completed trial, 5,246 people given it.9 reported

   5,246 people given it1 trial

   • The one large safety study found no extra heart attacks, strokes or heart deaths on testosterone. More than 5,000 men took part, all already at risk of heart trouble. It is here because it is the best safety proof any testosterone product has. Note what it tested. Men rubbed on a gel that doctors adjusted to a set blood level, not a shot like this one.

     The numbers TRAVERSE, 5,246 men, no excess of cardiovascular death, heart attack or stroke against placebo. Included because it is the safety context for any testosterone ester, with the qualifier that TRAVERSE used a transdermal gel titrated to a defined range rather than an injectable.

     New England Journal of Medicine, 2023· 5,246 people

   What people using it report

   • A claim repeated as settled by experienced posters is that the same weekly total given as one injection produces a higher estrogen reading than the same total split. The reasoning is that the enzyme that turns testosterone into estrogen gets overloaded by one big dose. It is presented as an inference from bloodwork patterns, not from a trial, and people report acting on it.
   • Thick blood, a raised hematocrit, is the problem discussed most and the one people monitor most closely, managed by blood donation, smaller more frequent injections, or dose reduction. Acne, water retention, nipple sensitivity and mood swings are described in the first weeks and usually as settling. Testicular atrophy and loss of fertility are treated as expected rather than as surprises, with hCG and sperm freezing raised in response. Hair loss and blood pressure come up as slower problems found through bloodwork rather than felt.
   • Access generates as much frustration as side effects. People describe conventional practitioners declining to run free testosterone or SHBG, paying out of pocket for their own labs, and moving to private telehealth. The community position that regular bloodwork matters more than the exact protocol is stated repeatedly.
3. 03DHEAHormoneModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 3 completed trials, 267 people given it.5 reported

   168 people given it2 trials1 found nothing

   • found nothingThe biggest study of DHEA against a dummy pill as an anti-ageing supplement found nothing that mattered. 144 older men and women with low levels took it for two years. The hormone went up and little else changed. Body shape, strength, fitness, blood sugar control and quality of life did not get better. Bone density went up slightly at one spot in men and one in women. These were healthy volunteers with low levels, not patients.

     The numbers 144 people, 87 men and 57 women aged 60 or over with low DHEA-S, randomised double-blind to 2 years of oral DHEA, testosterone (men only) or placebo. DHEA raised serum DHEA-S by a median 3.4 mcg/mL in men and 3.8 in women. No significant effect on body composition, peak oxygen uptake, muscle strength, insulin sensitivity or quality of life. Small gains in bone density at the femoral neck in men and the ultradistal radius in women. No major adverse effects.

     The New England Journal of Medicine, 2006· 144 people

   • In women whose adrenal glands make no DHEA, replacing it helped mood and sexual interest. 24 women took DHEA for four months and a dummy pill for four months. It is a study of people who lack the hormone, not of ageing.

     The numbers 24 women with adrenal insufficiency given 50 mg oral DHEA daily for 4 months and placebo for 4 months in random order, double-blind crossover. DHEA restored serum DHEA, DHEA-S, androstenedione and testosterone to the normal range; SHBG, total and HDL cholesterol fell. Global severity index change -0.18 on DHEA versus +0.03 on placebo (p=0.02); depression and anxiety scores and sexual thoughts, interest and satisfaction improved versus placebo.

     The New England Journal of Medicine, 1999· 24 people

   What people using it report

   • The body turning it into other hormones is the worry raised most, and it is described as going in both directions. Posters report that it can raise oestradiol in men and, less intuitively, that it can suppress testosterone in some, which is repeatedly offered as a reason to test rather than assume.
4. 04HCGBiologicLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 2 completed trials, 55 people given it.8 reported

   29 people given it1 trial

   • A small shot of hCG kept the testicles working while men were on testosterone. Twenty nine healthy men had their own hormone signal switched off by testosterone, which normally shuts the testicles down. Those also given a low dose of hCG every other day held testosterone inside the testicle near normal. That is a measurement taken from the testicle itself. It is not a sperm count and it is not fertility. Twenty nine men, over a short period, is where this evidence stops.

     The numbers Randomized study in 29 men: low-dose hCG every other day preserved intratesticular testosterone during exogenous testosterone.

     Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2005· 29 people

   What people using it report

   • The most repeated reason for using it alongside testosterone is testicular volume and fertility, and fullness returning over roughly one to two months is the timeline described most consistently.
5. 05EnclomipheneSmall moleculePreliminary. Studied in people, but no published study has had people take it. 1 human study where nobody was given it.6 reported

   nobody was given it1 watch-only study

   • Enclomiphene raised testosterone without flattening sperm counts, which is the whole point of it. In a mid-sized trial it was compared with testosterone gel rubbed on the skin. Men on enclomiphene ended up with more testosterone and kept their sperm counts. Testosterone treatment itself tends to push sperm counts down.

     The numbers Raised testosterone while preserving sperm concentration.

     Fertility and Sterility, 2014· number of people not givenobserved only, nobody was given it

   What people using it report

   • The most consistent pattern in the whole discussion is a gap between blood work and symptoms. Testosterone and the two brain hormones that drive it, LH and FSH, are described as climbing quickly, sometimes within two to four weeks and in some accounts from very low figures to the top of the range over months, while libido and erectile symptoms are repeatedly described as not following. That disconnect is the single most cited reason people give for stopping, including some who ran it close to two years with good numbers throughout.

Peptides and blends

1. 01FOXO4-DRIPeptideLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 1 completed trial, 74 people given it.8 reported

   1 animal or lab study

   Measured in animals or in the lab

   • In mice. A separate lab found the same effect. In old mice it cleared worn-out testosterone-making cells and raised testosterone.

     The numbers Independent replication of the mechanism: FOXO4-DRI induced p53 nuclear exclusion and apoptosis in senescent Leydig cells and improved testosterone secretion in naturally aged mice.

     Aging, 2020· animal study

2. 02OsteocalcinPeptidePreliminary. Studied in people, but no published study has had people take it. 2 human studies where nobody was given it.

   1 animal or lab study

   Measured in animals or in the lab

   • In mice. A new strain made without osteocalcin had normal bone amount, blood sugar, testosterone and muscle mass. What was off was the lining up of bone's mineral crystals, and the bones got weaker. The authors conclude osteocalcin does not act as a hormone.

     The numbers A new osteocalcin-deficient mouse made by deleting Bglap and Bglap2. Bone quantity, glucose metabolism, testosterone synthesis and muscle mass were all normal. What was abnormal was the crystallographic orientation of bone apatite, and bone strength fell as a result. The authors conclude osteocalcin does not function as a hormone.

     PLoS Genetics, 2020· animal study

Supplements

1. 01NDGASupplementAnimal or lab only. Only animal or lab studies on this page. No study in people yet. 2 animal studies, no human study.4 reported

   1 animal or lab study

   Measured in animals or in the lab

   • In mice, this is the first report of the male-leaning lifespan result. NDGA, acarbose and 17-alpha-estradiol all helped males more than females.

     The numbers The original report of the male-preferential lifespan effect, alongside acarbose and 17-alpha-estradiol.

     Aging Cell, 2014· animal study

2. 02NRPTSupplementModerate. At least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. 3 completed trials, 176 people given it.3 reported

   1 animal or lab study

   Measured in animals or in the lab

   • found nothingIn mice. In the US government mouse testing program, mixed-breed mice fed nicotinamide riboside from 8 months old did not live longer, male or female, across three labs. In the same group, a drug called 17-alpha-estradiol made males live 19 percent longer on average. That shows the test could spot a big effect.

     The numbers The relevant lifespan null for the nicotinamide riboside half of this product. In the National Institute on Aging Interventions Testing Program, genetically heterogeneous UM-HET3 mice fed nicotinamide riboside from 8 months of age showed no significant effect on lifespan in either sex in the pooled three-site dataset, the programme's primary endpoint. In the same cohort and the same three sites, 17-alpha-estradiol extended median male lifespan by 19 percent, demonstrating the experiment could detect a large effect. Funded by the National Institute on Aging, conflicts declared as none.

     Aging Cell, 2021· animal study

3. 03Urolithin BSupplementLimited. People have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. 1 completed trial, none stating how many people.

   1 animal or lab study

   Measured in animals or in the lab

   • In mouse muscle cells in a dish and in mice. Urolithin B made the cells grow, through more protein building and less protein breakdown, and the androgen receptor was involved. In mice, a nonstop dose from a pump under the skin for 28 days made muscles bigger and cut wasting after nerve injury. Not a dose by mouth, and not in people.

     The numbers C2C12 myotubes treated with 15 micromolar urolithin B for 24 hours grew and differentiated more, through increased protein synthesis and repression of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, with the androgen receptor implicated. In mice, 10 micrograms a day delivered continuously by implanted mini-osmotic pump for 28 days induced muscle hypertrophy and reduced atrophy after sciatic nerve section. Cells and mice, by continuous infusion, not an oral human dose.

     Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, 2017· animal study

Other compounds

1. 0117-alpha-estradiolHormoneAnimal or lab only. Only animal or lab studies on this page. No study in people yet. 4 animal studies, no human study.4 reported

   1 animal or lab study

   Measured in animals or in the lab

   • In mice, a higher dose worked even better, but still only in males. At three times the earlier dose, male mice lived longer on average, and the longest-lived ones lived longer too. The same paper found NDGA and Protandim also helped male mice. Fish oil, a bile acid drug and metformin on its own did not help. Metformin plus rapamycin did.

     The numbers Interventions Testing Program. 17-alpha-estradiol at a threefold higher dose than previously tested robustly extended both median and maximal lifespan, still only in males. The same paper reports nordihydroguaiaretic acid replicated in males at the original dose and at threefold lower and higher doses, dose-dependently and without an effect on maximal lifespan, and that Protandim extended median lifespan in males only. It also reports that neither fish oil nor ursodeoxycholic acid extended lifespan, and that metformin alone at 0.1 percent of diet did not significantly extend lifespan while metformin combined with rapamycin robustly did.

     Aging Cell, 2016· animal study