INTRODUCTION Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphate (DHEAS) are pleiotropic adrenal hormones with immunostimulating and antiglucocorticoid effects. The present study was conducted to evaluate the time course of DHEAS levels in critically ill patients and to study their association with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. MATERIALS AND METHOD This was a prospective observational c...

OBJECTIVE To determine the role of adrenal androgenic hormone precursors in female sexual function. DESIGN A review of current literature on sexual function and the androgen precursor hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). RESULT(S) The C(19) steroid DHEA is both an ovarian and adrenal androgen precursor hormone, whereas DHEAS is only synthesized i...

The aim of the present research was to study the uptake of DHEAS, and to establish the intracrine capacity of human platelets to produce sex steroid hormones. The DHEAS transport was evaluated through the uptake of [(3)H]-DHEAS in the presence or absence of different substrates through the organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) family. The activity of sulfatase enzyme was evaluated, and ...

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) is a circulating sulfated steroid considered to be a pro-androgen in mammalian physiology. Here we show that at a physiological concentration (1 μM), DHEAS induces the phosphorylation of the kinase Erk1/2 and of the transcription factors CREB and ATF-1 in the murine Sertoli cell line TM4. This signaling cascade stimulates the expression of the tight juncti...

BACKGROUND dehydro-epiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) has been reported to ameliorate diabetes mellitus in rats. AIM we investigated the relationships between plasma glucose, age, serum DHEAS and weight in healthy men. METHODS we measured the serum DHEAS, fasting plasma glucose, plasma cortisol and body mass index in 169 subjects (mean age 46.5 years). RESULTS there was a significant declin...

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEAS) may have mood enhancement effects: higher DHEAS concentrations and DHEA/cortisol ratio have been related to lower depression scores and controlled trials of DHEA administration have reported significant antidepressant effects. The balance between DHEAS and DHEA has been suggested to influence brain functioning. We explored...

Experimental and clinical investigations suggest the hypothesis that dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) can positively influence natural killer (NK) immunity via locally produced insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) from NK cells. In the present study, the NK cell cytotoxicity (NKCC) and IGF-I levels in the supernatant of NK cells were studied at baseline and after exposure to various molar...

BACKGROUND Only scarce data exist concerning the relationship between dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and/or its sulfate form DHEAS and bone status in adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN). AIM We investigated whether a relationship existed between DHEAS and bone metabolism (as assessed based on serum osteocalcin [OC], and collagen type I cross-linked carboxy-terminal telopeptide [CTx]). We al...

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) is a neuroactive steroid with antagonist action at gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors. Patch-clamp techniques were used to investigate DHEAS actions at GABAA receptors of the rat pituitary gland at two distinct loci: posterior pituitary nerve terminals and intermediate pituitary endocrine cells. The GABA responses in these two regions were qu...

The shift in cytokine profile during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease progression is influenced by dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) level. Radioimmunoassay was used to measure plasma DHEAS for 30 treatment-naïve HIV-infected and 30 uninfected individuals. There was a significant negative correlation of viral load with DHEAS level (P<0.05). Further studies of the use of DHEAS lev...