From T-Nation.com
"XXXXXXXX wrote:
XX- I have a question concerning 7-alpha-hydroxy-dehydroepiandrosterone, it's suppose to be the newest cortisol blocking supplement, a penny for your thoughts
XXXXXX,
7B-OH-DHEA has actually been shown to have great anti-glucocorticoid activity, and further downstream metabolites possess even greater than that, but the alpha isomer has not shown as great of an effect.
Having said that, the only literature I've seen has suggested that these effects are mediated downstream of the receptor and have focused on immunomodulatory effects. If it were a direct GR-antagonistic effect, we could speculate it might help with muscle growth and so forth, but that's not what the most recent literature has been indicating and beyond that, as I said, the research has focused on immune function.
Going back to the alpha isomer, if anything, it serves as a good substrate for formation of 7-oxo or 7-keto-DHEA, but the reality is that 7B-OH-DHEA (which 7-keto-DHEA is converted to and vice versa) and a trihydroxylated metabolite have the greatest activity when it comes to desired biological effects, especially with respect to increasing energy expenditure.
In fact, it's that most desirable metabolite which is the main active metabolite seen with A7-E.
In short, if someone is selling the alpha isomer of 7-hydroxy-DHEA, that is in my opinion, somewhat akin to having someone taking 4-androstenediol in order to increase estriol and estrone formation. In other words, you're relying upon so many different steps to get to the desired product that it's really just grossly inefficient. In my example, the 4-AD would need to be converted to testosterone which would need to be converted to estradiol which would then finally be converted to estriol and estrone upon recirculation to the liver. Well, wouldn't it make more sense to simply take the estradiol or better yet, make a pro-drug for the estriol and estrone for the greatest yield?"
Thus my concern is if its really worth the money?
