Dhea

Acronym for dehydroepiandrosterone. The steroid hormone is secreted in a daily rhythm that runs paraplle to the high cortisol levels in the morning and low in the evening. In addition, it occurs as DHEA sulphate (S) in a reversible storage form. DHEA-S is present in serum in a concentration that is 1000 times higher, has only a low daily variation and is therefore routinely preferred in the determination. DHEA acts both as a precursor of sex hormones, into which it is metabolized tissue-specifically. It also has a direct hormonal effect.

With the adrenarche and adolescence the asure maturation of the adrenal DHEA secretion begins. It reaches its peak at the age between 20 and 30 years. From this time on, the natural adrenopause develops with continuously decreasing DHEA and DHEA-S levels. In the middle of life, the DHEAS-S levels are halved at the age of 40-50 years. At 70-89 years of age they have dropped at 10% of the peak values.

The age decrease of DHEA-S from about 3600 for men and 2400 ng/ml serum for women to values below 400 ng/ml serum is mainly caused by the insufficiency of the enzyme 17,20-desmolase. This only reduces DHEA-S but not cortisol and aldosterone in old age. This "relative hypercorticism" distinguishes adrenopause from classic adrenocortical insufficiency.

1. Espinosa De Ycaza AE et al (2016) Effect of Dehydroepiandrosterone and Testosterone Supplementation on Systemic Lipolysis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 101:1719-1728.
2. Malik N et al (2015) Dehydroepiandrosterone as an adjunct to gonadotropins in infertile Indian women with premature ovarian aging: A pilot study. J Hum Reprod Sci 8:135-141.
3. Mannic T et al (2015) In vivo and in vitro evidence of dehydroepiandrosterone protective role on the cardiovascular system. Int J Endocrinol Metab 13:e24660.