title: Low dehydroepiandrosterone circulating levels in premenopausal obese women with very high body mass index.
abstract: Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has an anti-obesity effect in rodents and reduces body fat in normal men. Therefore, the plasma levels of DHEA were evaluated in nine premenopausal healthy women and in 13 menstrually active nondiabetic obese women, including patients (n = 6) with body mass index (BMI) over 40. In the obese group, a significant inverse correlation between DHEA levels and BMI was found. These results suggest that patients with severe obesity are unable to increase the DHEA adrenal production rate in order to parallel the increase in the hormone metabolic clearance rate (due to enlargement of body fat mass per se). The deficiency of this mechanism might itself contribute to the progressive fat accumulation in severe obesity.
authors.affiliation: Clinica Medica III, Università di Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Pergola
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Giagulli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garruti
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Cospite
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giorgino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cignarelli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giorgino
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002096:C-Peptide / Q000097:blood; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005951:Glucose Tolerance Test; D006615:Hip; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008593:Menopause / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Q000378:metabolism; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D002096:C-Peptide; D007328:Insulin; D012738:Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; D014280:Triglycerides; D013739:Testosterone; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone