“DHT Gel (10%)” is a skin gel containing dihydrotestosterone (DHT, also called androstanolone) at a concentration of 10%. DHT is the body’s most potent natural androgen, and unlike testosterone it cannot be converted to estrogen. Applied to the skin, a DHT gel raises blood DHT and, in turn, shuts down the body’s own testosterone production.
The single most important fact: we found no approved product, published label or clinical study of a DHT gel at 10% strength. The only approved DHT gel we could verify is Andractim, a 2.5% gel authorized in France since 1981. All human data on DHT gels come from 0.7% and 2.5% formulations. A 10% gel contains four times as much DHT per gram as Andractim, so the volume needed for a given dose is much smaller, but how much of that DHT is absorbed has never been measured.
This page summarizes what the French label, clinical trials of lower-strength DHT gels and regulators report. It is for education only and is not medical advice.
| Property | Detail |
|---|---|
| Class | Endogenous androgen; 5α-reduced metabolite of testosterone; not aromatized to estrogen |
| Concentration | 10%, which by weight would be 100 mg DHT per gram of gel |
| Approved products | None at 10%; the only approved DHT gel we found is Andractim 2.5% (France) |
| Route | Transdermal (applied to skin) |
| Doses studied in humans | 16–250 mg DHT/day, delivered with 0.7% and 2.5% gels; no study used a 10% gel |
| Kinetics (0.7% gel) | Serum DHT plateaus 12–18 h after the first application and reaches steady state by day 2–3 |
| Elimination half-life | No figure published for DHT gel |
| US status | No FDA-approved DHT product; Schedule III anabolic steroid |
| WADA status | Prohibited at all times (S1.1, androstanolone) |
What it is
DHT is testosterone with the double bond in its A-ring reduced. PubChem lists its formula as C₁₉H₃₀O₂ and its molecular weight as 290.4 g/mol (PubChem CID 10635). The gel contains DHT itself, with no ester, so every milligram on the label is DHT.
Because DHT cannot be aromatized, raising it does not raise estradiol. Instead, estradiol tends to fall, because DHT suppresses the testosterone that would otherwise be converted (Wang et al., JCEM 1998; Swerdloff et al., Endocr Rev 2017).
What “10%” means
Andractim’s label states its strength as 2.50 g of androstanolone per 100 g of gel, a weight-for-weight percentage (Andractim SmPC, ANSM). If a 10% gel is labeled the same way, each gram contains 100 mg DHT. The library lists two strengths, plus other DHT forms:
| Form | DHT per gram of gel | Library page |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5% gel (Andractim) | 25 mg | Not listed separately |
| 10% gel | 100 mg | This page |
| 20% gel | 200 mg | DHT Gel (20%) |
| Injected DHT, no ester | Not a gel | DHT Base |
| DHT esters, injected | Not a gel | DHT Propionate, DHT Enanthate |
The table below shows how much gel would carry the DHT doses used in published studies. These are amounts of DHT applied to the skin, not amounts absorbed:
| DHT dose in study | Gel used in the study | Same DHT amount as 10% gel |
|---|---|---|
| 16 mg/day (Wang et al., 1998) | 2.3 g of 0.7% gel | ≈0.16 g |
| 70 mg/day (Page et al., 2011) | 10 g of 0.7% gel | ≈0.7 g |
| 125 mg/day (Andractim label, low end) | 5 g of 2.5% gel | ≈1.25 g |
| 250 mg/day (Andractim label, high end) | 10 g of 2.5% gel | ≈2.5 g |
The right-hand column assumes the same fraction of DHT is absorbed from every gel. That assumption has not been tested. Drug passes through skin by passive diffusion (Swerdloff et al., Endocr Rev 2017), and absorption depends on the vehicle, the area covered and the concentration. US testosterone gel labels make the same point: topical products with different strengths or application instructions may produce different systemic exposure (AndroGel 1% label).
How it behaves in the body
No pharmacokinetic study of a 10% DHT gel exists. Andractim’s own label leaves the pharmacokinetics section blank (“non renseigné”). The data below come from lower-strength gels.
In the main dose-ranging study, 25 men aged 60–80 applied a 0.7% gel daily for 14 days at three doses (Wang et al., JCEM 1998):
| Daily DHT dose | Application area | Mean serum DHT, steady state | 24-h DHT exposure vs baseline (day 14) | Own testosterone exposure vs baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 mg | One upper arm | 8–11 nmol/L | 6.0-fold | 75% |
| 32 mg | Both arms and shoulders | 12–17 nmol/L | 6.9-fold | 56% |
| 64 mg | Arms, shoulders and upper abdomen | 14–24 nmol/L | 16.1-fold | 36% |
Key points from that study and two earlier French studies of the 2.5% gel:
- Slow, steady release. After the first application, serum DHT rose gradually and plateaued between 12 and 18 hours. Daily use reached steady state by day 2 or 3 (Wang et al., 1998).
- The skin acts as a reservoir. In 14 men using 125 mg DHT in 5 g of gel daily, plasma DHT rose 4–5 times on average and stayed stable from 2 to 21 hours after the last dose (Fiet et al., Int J Androl 1982).
- Little swing between doses. With 125 mg applied twice daily, hormone levels were stable between applications apart from a small dip in DHT 12 hours after the previous dose (Kuhn et al., JCEM 1984).
These studies do not report an elimination half-life for gel-delivered DHT, so we do not give one.
Approved medical use
No DHT product of any strength is approved in the United States. A 2017 Endocrine Reviews article noted that one DHT gel is available in a small number of countries, excluding the US, and that this formulation is the one used in clinical trials (Swerdloff et al., Endocr Rev 2017).
In France, Andractim 2.5% (Besins Healthcare) was authorized on January 23, 1981 and remains marketed as a prescription-only (List I) medicine. Treatment must be started by a specialist in endocrinology, urology, gynecology or dermatology (Andractim SmPC, ANSM). Its labeled uses and doses are:
| Use | Labeled dose (2.5% gel) | DHT equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Androgen deficiency in men, including hypogonadism, applied to chest and/or abdomen | 5–10 g gel daily; avoid washing the area for 6 hours | 125–250 mg/day |
| Local treatment: lichen sclerosus and gynecomastia in men; vulvar lichen sclerosus in women | 2.5 g every other day on the affected area, avoiding mucous membranes | ≈62.5 mg per application |
French health insurance reimburses Andractim only for idiopathic gynecomastia in men. In its 2013 review, France’s Transparency Commission rated the drug’s medical benefit for that use as “low” (Andractim SmPC, ANSM).
Nothing on the label covers a 10% gel. At 10%, the labeled systemic dose of 125–250 mg would correspond to about 1.25–2.5 g of gel, if absorption were equal.
What the research shows
All controlled trials used 0.7% or 2.5% gels. No trial has tested a 10% gel, and none has studied DHT gel in young trained men or for athletic performance.
| Trial | Design, n | DHT dose and duration | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vermeulen & Deslypere, Maturitas 1985 | Older men with relatively low testosterone | 125 or 250 mg/day (Andractim), 3 months | LH suppressed; total and LDL cholesterol fell moderately; HDL fell slightly |
| Ly et al., JCEM 2001 | RCT, 37 men 60+ with testosterone ≤15 nmol/L | 70 mg/day, 3 months | Fat mass fell; lean mass unchanged; dominant knee flexion strength rose; no change in gait, balance, cognition or quality of life |
| Kunelius et al., JCEM 2002 | RCT, 120 men aged 50–70 | 125–250 mg/day, 6 months | Ability to maintain erection improved; no change in well-being; hemoglobin and hematocrit rose |
| Idan et al., Ann Intern Med 2010 | RCT, 114 healthy men over 50 | 70 mg/day, 24 months | No effect on prostate growth; lean mass up, fat mass down; spinal bone density fell |
| Page et al., JCEM 2011 | RCT, 31 healthy men aged 35–55 | 70 mg/day (10 g of 0.7% gel), 4 weeks | Serum DHT up nearly 7-fold; DHT inside the prostate unchanged |
Body composition and strength
In the 2-year trial of 114 men over 50, 70 mg/day of DHT gel compared with placebo produced (Idan et al., Ann Intern Med 2010):
| Outcome | Change on DHT vs placebo (95% CI) |
|---|---|
| Lean mass | +2.4% (1.6–3.1) |
| Fat mass | −5.2% (2.6–7.7 decrease) |
| Hemoglobin | +7% (5–9) |
| Serum creatinine | +9% (5–11) |
| Spinal bone mineral density | −1.4% (0.6–2.3 decrease) |
In the 3-month trial in 37 older men, fat mass fell but lean mass did not change. Strength improved only in knee flexion of the dominant leg, not in knee extension or shoulder strength (Ly et al., JCEM 2001). These are modest effects in untrained older men.
Prostate
DHT is the main androgen inside the prostate, so prostate growth was the leading concern. The trials did not find it:
- Over 24 months, prostate volume and PSA rose with age in both groups, but DHT had no effect on either (P over 0.2). The authors noted this cannot exclude effects on the course of an existing prostate cancer (Idan et al., 2010).
- After 4 weeks, DHT inside prostate tissue was 3.1 ng/g on DHT gel vs 2.8 ng/g on placebo, not a significant difference, even though serum DHT rose nearly 7-fold (Page et al., JCEM 2011).
- In the 6-month Kunelius trial, prostate size and PSA did not change (Kunelius et al., 2002).
Sexual function
In the 24-month trial, DHT gel completely suppressed testosterone, LH, FSH and estradiol. It had no effect on 33 measures of sexual function and mood, except a mild drop in overall sexual desire that reversed after stopping (Sartorius et al., J Sex Med 2014). In the 6-month trial, the ability to maintain an erection improved compared with placebo (P under 0.04) (Kunelius et al., 2002).
Gynecomastia and pediatric uses
These are the local uses behind the French label. They used 2.5% gel:
- Gynecomastia. In 40 men with long-standing idiopathic gynecomastia, 125 mg DHT twice daily for 4–20 weeks led to complete disappearance in 10, partial regression in 19 and no change in 11. This was an uncontrolled case series (Kuhn et al., Clin Endocrinol 1983).
- Micropenis in children. In an open study of 23 children, 2.5% gel at 0.1–0.3 mg/kg/day, titrated to keep DHT in the normal range, raised mean stretched penile length from 1.68 cm to 2.9 cm over 6 months (Xu et al., J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 2017).
A 10% gel would be poorly suited to the small, weight-based pediatric doses. This is an inference from the arithmetic, not a tested finding.
Side effects and risks
The French label lists raised hematocrit, red cell count and hemoglobin as common side effects. Other effects are those of excess androgen activity, which it says can be controlled by lowering the dose (Andractim SmPC, ANSM).
Shutdown of natural testosterone and estradiol
Every DHT gel study that measured it found suppression of the body’s own testosterone:
- In 12 healthy men, 125 mg twice daily for 10 days dropped testosterone from 7.33 to 1.33 ng/mL, and LH and estradiol fell too (Kuhn et al., JCEM 1984).
- After 24 months on 70 mg/day, mean serum testosterone was about 86% lower (Swerdloff et al., Endocr Rev 2017).
- Suppression was dose-dependent in the 14-day study, with own testosterone exposure falling to 36% of baseline at 64 mg/day (Wang et al., 1998).
Because DHT cannot become estradiol, estradiol falls too. The 1.4% loss of spinal bone density over 2 years is attributed to this estrogen deficiency (Idan et al., 2010; Sartorius et al., 2014).
Red blood cells
DHT raises hematocrit (the share of blood made up of red cells):
- In the 6-month trial, hematocrit rose from 43.5% to 45.8% and hemoglobin from 146.0 to 154.8 g/L (Kunelius et al., 2002).
- In the 2-year trial, 8 men on DHT stopped because of an asymptomatic rise in hematocrit, which resolved after stopping. Another 3 stopped because PSA rose; none had prostate cancer (Idan et al., 2010).
Lipids and liver
Lipids did not worsen in the gel trials. Total and LDL cholesterol fell with HDL unchanged in the 3-month trial (Ly et al., 2001). The 6-month trial found no effect on liver function or the lipid profile (Kunelius et al., 2002). An earlier Andractim study found a slight fall in HDL alongside lower total and LDL cholesterol (Vermeulen & Deslypere, 1985). None of these used a 10% gel.
Skin
Skin problems were rare in the trials. A review reported only mild irritation from the high alcohol content, and no link to acne or male-pattern hair loss in the 24-month study (Swerdloff et al., 2017). Andractim contains 48.8% ethanol by weight, can burn on damaged skin and is flammable until dry (Andractim SmPC, ANSM).
Transfer to other people
US testosterone gels carry a boxed warning: virilization has been reported in children secondarily exposed to the gel, and children should avoid contact with unwashed or unclothed application sites (AndroGel 1% label). The Andractim label has no equivalent warning, and transfer of DHT gel has not been studied. A 10% gel places four times as much hormone per gram on the skin as Andractim.
Who should not use it
The Andractim label lists these contraindications and precautions:
- prostate cancer in men;
- systemic androgen therapy in women, because of the risk of virilization;
- pregnancy, possible pregnancy and breastfeeding;
- caution in severe heart, liver or kidney failure, ischemic heart disease, high blood pressure, and thrombophilia or risk factors for venous blood clots.
It also flags an interaction with vitamin K antagonists such as warfarin, which raises bleeding risk and calls for closer INR monitoring. During long-term use, the label calls for regular checks of hemoglobin, hematocrit, liver function and lipids (Andractim SmPC, ANSM).
Legal status and use outside medicine
- United States. No DHT product is FDA-approved. DHT is listed in Schedule III as “4-dihydrotestosterone (17β-hydroxy-androstan-3-one)” (21 CFR 1308.13).
- Sport. WADA lists androstanolone (5α-dihydrotestosterone) under S1.1 anabolic androgenic steroids, prohibited in and out of competition when administered exogenously (WADA 2026 Prohibited List). The Andractim label itself warns athletes that it can cause a positive doping test.
- Product quality. Because no regulator has approved a 10% DHT gel, products sold at that strength have no verified label for DHT content, vehicle or absorption.
Key takeaways
- No approved product or study at this strength. The only approved DHT gel we found is 2.5% Andractim in France. All clinical data come from 0.7% and 2.5% gels.
- Four times the DHT per gram. At 10% by weight, 1 g of gel carries 100 mg DHT, so trial doses of 70–250 mg correspond to under 3 g of gel. Whether absorption matches lower-strength gels is unknown.
- Steady levels, strong suppression. Gel-delivered DHT plateaus within a day and reaches steady state in 2–3 days. It suppresses LH, the body’s own testosterone and estradiol in a dose-dependent way.
- Modest effects in trials. Two years of 70 mg/day in men over 50 raised lean mass 2.4% and cut fat mass 5.2% vs placebo, with no effect on prostate growth.
- Hematocrit and bone are the main risks seen. Hematocrit rose in every long trial, and spinal bone density fell 1.4% over 2 years, likely from low estradiol.
- Controlled and banned in sport. DHT is Schedule III in the US and prohibited at all times by WADA.
Sources
- Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé (ANSM). Andractim, gel pour application locale (androstanolone 2.5%): résumé des caractéristiques du produit and notice. Updated December 10, 2025. ANSM.
- National Center for Biotechnology Information. Dihydrotestosterone, PubChem CID 10635. PubChem.
- Swerdloff RS, Dudley RE, Page ST, Wang C, Salameh WA. Dihydrotestosterone: biochemistry, physiology, and clinical implications of elevated blood levels. Endocr Rev. 2017;38(3):220–254. PubMed; PMC.
- Wang C, Iranmanesh A, Berman N, et al. Comparative pharmacokinetics of three doses of percutaneous dihydrotestosterone gel in healthy elderly men–a clinical research center study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1998;83(8):2749–2757. PubMed.
- Fiet J, Morville R, Chemama D, et al. Percutaneous absorption of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone in man. I. Plasma androgen and gonadotrophin levels in normal adult men after percutaneous administration of 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone. Int J Androl. 1982;5(6):586–594. PubMed.
- Kuhn JM, Rieu M, Laudat MH, et al. Effects of 10 days administration of percutaneous dihydrotestosterone on the pituitary-testicular axis in normal men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1984;58(2):231–235. PubMed.
- Vermeulen A, Deslypere JP. Long-term transdermal dihydrotestosterone therapy: effects on pituitary gonadal axis and plasma lipoproteins. Maturitas. 1985;7(3):281–287. PubMed.
- Ly LP, Jimenez M, Zhuang TN, et al. A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial of transdermal dihydrotestosterone gel on muscular strength, mobility, and quality of life in older men with partial androgen deficiency. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001;86(9):4078–4088. PubMed.
- Kunelius P, Lukkarinen O, Hannuksela ML, Itkonen O, Tapanainen JS. The effects of transdermal dihydrotestosterone in the aging male: a prospective, randomized, double blind study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002;87(4):1467–1472. PubMed.
- Idan A, Griffiths KA, Harwood DT, et al. Long-term effects of dihydrotestosterone treatment on prostate growth in healthy, middle-aged men without prostate disease: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153(10):621–632. PubMed.
- Page ST, Lin DW, Mostaghel EA, et al. Dihydrotestosterone administration does not increase intraprostatic androgen concentrations or alter prostate androgen action in healthy men: a randomized-controlled trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011;96(2):430–437. PubMed.
- Sartorius GA, Ly LP, Handelsman DJ. Male sexual function can be maintained without aromatization: randomized placebo-controlled trial of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in healthy, older men for 24 months. J Sex Med. 2014;11(10):2562–2570. PubMed.
- Kuhn JM, Roca R, Laudat MH, et al. Studies on the treatment of idiopathic gynaecomastia with percutaneous dihydrotestosterone. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1983;19(4):513–520. PubMed.
- Xu D, Lu L, Xi L, et al. Efficacy and safety of percutaneous administration of dihydrotestosterone in children of different genetic backgrounds with micropenis. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2017;30(12):1285–1291. PubMed.
- ASCEND Therapeutics US. AndroGel (testosterone gel) 1%, prescribing information. Revised July 2025. DailyMed.
- US Drug Enforcement Administration. Schedules of controlled substances: Schedule III, 21 CFR 1308.13(f). eCFR.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. The 2026 Prohibited List, International Standard. In effect January 1, 2026. WADA 2026 Prohibited List.