Ulter, have you ever heard of the Clomiphene Challenge Test? It is a routine procedure performed by doctors to test the HPA:
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section19/chapter269/269g.htm
"Clomiphene citrate test: Clomiphene citrate is a weak estrogen that inhibits the binding of estradiol on estrogen receptors and does not stimulate receptor activation. Because estradiol is an important inhibitor of serum gonadotropin secretion, receptor occupancy by clomiphene causes decreased negative feedback on gonadotropin secretion by circulating estrogens.
The normal adult response to clomiphene citrate, 100 mg po bid, is a 50 to 250% increase in LH, a 30 to 200% increase in FSH, and a 30 to 200% increase in testosterone These increases are impaired or are absent in hypothalamic or pituitary disorders."
There is no question that clomid raises testosterone levels in normal healthy males.
Here is another abstract of interest:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1987 Dec;65(6):1118-26
The effects of aging in normal men on bioavailable testosterone and luteinizing hormone secretion: response to clomiphene citrate.
Tenover JS, Matsumoto AM, Plymate SR, Bremner WJ.
Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Seattle, Washington.
Serum testosterone (T) levels in men decline with age while serum LH levels, as measured by RIA, increase. To assess if the decline in serum T levels in healthy aging men is paralleled by an age-related decline in the bioavailable non-sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)-bound fraction of T and to determine whether there are age-related changes in LH secretion or LH control of T production, we studied 29 young (aged 22-35 yr) and 26 elderly (aged 65-84 yr)
healthy men . All men had single random blood samples drawn, and 14 men in each age group underwent frequent blood sampling for 24 h, both before and after 7 days of clomiphene citrate (CC) administration. Both mean 24-h serum total T levels and non-SHBG-bound T were reduced in elderly men compared to those in young men (P less than 0.05), while estradiol and SHBG levels were similar in the 2 age groups. Serum FSH determined by RIA and LH by RIA and bioassay were higher in the elderly men compared to those in young men (P less than 0.05), but the ratios of LH bioactivity to immunoreactivity and the LH pulse frequency and amplitude were similar.
After CC administration, mean serum total T and non-SHBG-bound levels in young men increased by 100% and 304%, respectively, while in older men these values increased by only 32% and 8%, respectively. However, CC-stimulated LH pulse characteristics and serum levels of estradiol, SHBG, FSH, and bioactive and immunoreactive LH were similar in the 2 groups. Thus, both at baseline and after CC stimulation, elderly men had significantly lower serum total T and non-SHBG-bound (bioavailable) T levels than did young men, despite similar or increased levels of bioactive LH and similar bioactive to immunoreactive LH ratios and LH pulse characteristics. These results suggest that major age-related changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis occur at the level of the testes and are manifested by decreased responsiveness to bioactive LH. Administration of CC to young and elderly men resulted in similar changes in LH pulse characteristics and LH bioactivity and immunoreactivity, suggesting preserved hypothalamic-pituitary responsiveness in the elderly.