Eur J Appl Physiol (1985) 54:494--496 European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology 9 Springer-Verlag 1985 Androgen levels following a football match C. Lupo, L. Baldi, M. Bonifazi, L. Lodi, G. Martelli, A. Viti, and G. Carli Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Universitfi di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 1-53100 Siena, Italy Summary. In 18 trained football players, blood samples were collected before a football match, at half-time, at the end, and 45 and 90 min after the end of the match. The testosterone (T) level showed a decrease in the rest period. Dihydrotes- tosterone (DHT) increased during the match, but returned to initial levels in the last samples. The T/DHT ratio decreased, reached the minimal value at the end of the exercise, and returned to basal levels in the rest period. Cortisol and an- drostenedione levels increased during the match, but returned to control levels 45 and 90 min after the end of the match, respectively. It is suggested that during this type of exercise anabolic and ca- tabolic hormones may be simultaneously acti- vated. Key words: Testosterone -- Dihydrotestosterone -- Androstenedione -- Cortisol -- Football Introduction Physical exercise activates the neuroendocrine system (Galbo 1983). Testosterone plasma levels are known to be increased following intense short exercise periods (Kuoppasalmi et al. 1976; Weiss et al. 1983 ; Galbo et al. 1977) and to be decreased following long periods of light exercise (Dessypris et al. 1976; Opstad and Aakvaag 1982; Gugliel- mini et al. 1984). It was the aim of the present study to detect possible modifications of testosterone as well as its metabolites, caused by participation in a foot- ball match (i.e. mixed anaerobic-aerobic work). The levels of testosterone and its metabolites, di- Offprint requests to: Giancarlo Carli at the above address hydrotestosterone (DHT) and androstenedione, were measured before, during and after the physi- cal performance. As androgens are also produced by the adrenal gland, the study of these hor- mones was coupled to determinations of cortisol levels, which are known to be increased by physi- cal activity (Shephard 1982). Materials and methods In a group of semi-professional football players (n = 18), aged 20--25 years, androgen and cortisol plasma levels were deter- mined before, during and after a match. Plasma samples of 10 ml were taken immediately before the match, which started at 3.30 p.m. (sample I), at half-time (sample II), at the end of the match (sample III) and 45 (sample IV) and 90 (sample V) rain after the end of the match. Plasma aliquots of 0.5 ml were extracted with methylene chloride and dried under nitrogen. Cortisol levels were then determined by radioimmunoassay with 1,2-H3-cortisol, pur- chased from New England Nuclear (specific activity 40--60 Ci/mmol), and rabbit's cortisol antiserum, purchased from RADIM. After 4 h incubation at 4~176 the separation of the free and the antibody-bound steroid was obtained with a charcoal-dextran mixture. Plasma aliquots of 0.5 ml were extracted with diethylether and the dried extracts were redissolved in isoctane and parti- tioned by celite column chromatography (80 mm • 6 mm) in order to separate androstenedione, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone (T). Androstenedione was collected in the first fraction (100% isoctane), DHT in the second fraction (5% ethylacetate-isoctane) and T in the third fraction (15% ethyl- acetate-isoctane). The three eluted fractions were dried under nitrogen and a radioimmunoassay was performed using 1,2- tritiated steroid (New England Nuclear; specific activities of 40--60 Ci/nmol) and antisera (RADIM). The incubation time was 2 h at 4~ for androstenedione and DHT, 30 min at 37~ and 1 h at 4~ for T. The separation of the antibody-bound steroid was achieved with a charcoal-dextran mixture. Recov- ery was calculated by adding small amounts of tritiated ste- roids to each sample before extraction and partition. Medium recovery from the columns was 65%. The intra-assay coeffi- cient of variability was 5%--7%; the inter-assay coefficient of variability was 10%.