It has been suggested that the programming of the endocrine axes occurs during critical phases of fetal development and will be affected by intrauterine growth retardation. As a result, children born small for gestational age (SGA) might have several hormonal disturbances. In later life, one of the questions that might arise is: Do short children born SGA have higher serum dehydroepiandrosteron...

BACKGROUND Antiatherogenic effects of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) have been suspected for more than 30 years, yet the available evidence to support or refute such effects in humans is inconclusive. The hypothesis has not been adequately tested in large-scale epidemiological studies. METHODS AND RESULTS The present study used a cohort of men initial...

Recent reports demonstrate neurotrophic properties of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) in men at rest, as well as profound neurotrophic responses to stress in both men and women. Little is known of neuroprotective-neurotrophic effects of DHEAS during stress exposure, either in men or women. This translational study was designed to examine neuroprotective-neurotrophic effects of DHEAS thro...

OBJECTIVE Owing to their increasing rate of discovery as incidental findings, the characterization of adrenal masses is an important diagnostic problem which frequently challenges the clinician's skill. DESIGN The results of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) measurement were evaluated in a consecutive series of 107 patients with an adrenal mass (39 men, 68 women aged 15-81 years, median ...

The cortisol/DHEAS ratio has been found to predict different health outcomes. We examined the association between cortisol/DHEAS ratio and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in patients suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The only subcomponent of MetS positively associated with the cortisol/DHEAS ratio was diastolic blood pressure. Possible reasons for this finding, as well as study limit...

BACKGROUND Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate derivative DHEAS are neuroactive steroids. In the brain, they interact with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA(A)) receptors, which are involved in the regulation of anxiety and mood. The relevance of circulatory neurosteroids to psychiatric disorders and biological treatment is unknown. METHODS Basal plasma levels of cortisol, DHEA, and DHE...

This study addresses how growth during sensitive developmental periods and genes may affect hormone levels in late adolescence. We analyzed hormone levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), which are hypothesized to be two pathways linking early growth with adult diseases (such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease) via their effects on e...

The neurosteroids, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and androsterone, are implicated in drug addictions. We examined their influence on locomotor activity and reward in male Wistar rats, and on steroid and monoamine metabolism in the hippocampus and striatum. In the open field test, DHEAS injections (10, 40, 80 mg/kg, i.p.) 30 min prior the test had no significant effect on ambulation, bu...

Earlier studies have used the dexamethasone (DEX) suppression test (DST) to investigate the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) function in schizophrenia, although the findings are controversial. Recently there has been an increased interest in the role of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate (DHEAS) in HPA axis function. Several studies have investigated basal DHEA(S) levels and corti...

Several endogenous hormones have been proven to stimulate cancer growth, whereas at present very few hormones are known to display oncostatic activity. The most widely investigated antitumor hormone is the pineal indole melatonin (MLT), and cancer progression has been shown to be associated with a decline in MLT secretion. Recently, another hormone, the adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone-su...