title: Testosterone supplementation for depressed men: current research and suggested treatment guidelines.
abstract: Several lines of accumulating evidence suggest that testosterone might be effective for the treatment of depression, especially in older men who exhibit low testosterone levels. However, despite the potential promise of this approach, the available literature of controlled studies of testosterone in depression remains extremely limited. Therefore, testosterone treatment of depression must still be considered an experimental procedure. At the present state of research, it appears that testosterone might most likely show benefit as an augmentation strategy in men who exhibit low or borderline testosterone levels and who show only a partial response to conventional antidepressants. In this article, we provide some suggested practical guidelines for the treatment of such individuals. However, it should be recognized that these suggestions are tentative and will likely require revision as additional data become available.
authors.affiliation: Biological Psychiatry Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA 02478, USA.
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kanayama
authors.forename: Revital
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amiaz
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seidman
authors.forename: Harrison G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Pope
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards; D013739:Testosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone