Comment · Tue, June 9, 2026 · ND Owner
Concerns about Cistanche Supercritical Extract & Steroidogenesis: Does Acteoside/Verbascoside actually drop Testosterone? (Looking at this 2015 study)
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CitronOk9793 · 11 points
Hey everyone,
I've been planning to refine my supplement stack for steroidogenesis, and like many here, I always assumed \Cistanche tubulosa\ was a definitive "pro-testosterone" herb. I've taken it for years from them, to good effect. Including the super critical I find very energizing .
However, I recently came across this 2015 study from \Molecular & Cellular Toxicology\:
\\"Acteoside reduces testosterone by inhibiting cAMP, p450scc, and StAR in rat Leydig cells"\\ (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13273-015-0002-x)
For those unfamiliar, \*\acteoside\\ is just another name for \\verbascoside\\*. The researchers found that isolated acteoside actually \reduced\ testosterone production in rat Leydig cells by down-regulating cAMP and suppressing key steroidogenic proteins/enzymes like StAR (Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory protein) and p450scc (cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme).
This has me somewhat concerned, especially when looking at higher-end extracts. For instance, Nootropics Depot’s \*\Supercritical CO2 Cistanche Extract\\ is standardized specifically to be very high in \\acteoside\\*. If isolated acteoside suppresses the fundamen…
What they were answering
DoctorBoneMarrow · 3 points
Looks like Cistanche would be perfect for young individuals with low testosterone due to low-grade inflammation from metabolic syndrome. I'm now excited about the clinical trial where you'll combine Cistamax and Eurycomax in one arm. Combining a direct + indirect approach to enhance testosterone production looks very promising!
It will also interesting to see if in the Cistamax only arm, there is a wide variety of high responders vs non-responders, and correlate if the high responders had higher markers of inflammation at baseline.
What other intersting compounds does Cistanche contains apart from echinacoside and acteoside? Do you have any clue what causes the increased stimulation in the CO2 Cistanche compared to the other extracts?
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
There are other phenylethanoid glycosides, like tubuloside A-E, isoacteoside, 2'-acetylacteoside, cistanoside A–N, and salidroside. There are also iridoids like geniposidic acid, catalpol, bartsioside, and 8-epiloganic acid. As to why the supercritical CO2 extract feels more stimulating, we have not yet figured that out. It could be volatile monoterpenoids that are preserved in the extraction. One of the possible ones is 2'-O-methyladenosine. There are several potential pyrrolidinone derivatives as well.