title: Low circulating levels of dehydroepiandrosterone in histologically advanced nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
abstract: The biological basis of variability in histological progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is unknown. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is the most abundant steroid hormone and has been shown to influence sensitivity to oxidative stress, insulin sensitivity, and expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha and procollagen messenger RNA. Our aim was to determine whether more histologically advanced NAFLD is associated with low circulating levels of DHEA. Serum samples were obtained prospectively at the time of liver biopsy in 439 patients with NAFLD (78 in an initial and 361 in validation cohorts) and in controls with cholestatic liver disease (n = 44). NAFLD was characterized as mild [simple steatosis or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with fibrosis stage 0-2] or advanced (NASH with fibrosis stage 3-4). Serum levels of sulfated DHEA (DHEA-S) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Patients with advanced NAFLD had lower plasma levels of DHEA-S than patients with mild NAFLD in both the initial (0.25 +/- 0.07 versus 1.1 +/- 0.09 microg/mL, P < 0.001) and validation cohorts (0.47 +/- 0.06 versus 0.99 +/- 0.04 microg/mL, P < 0.001). A "dose effect" of decreasing DHEA-S and incremental fibrosis stage was observed with a mean DHEA-S of 1.03 +/- 0.05, 0.96 +/- 0.07, 0.83 +/- 0.11, 0.66 +/- 0.11, and 0.35 +/- 0.06 microg/mL for fibrosis stages 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. All patients in both cohorts in the advanced NAFLD group had low DHEA-S levels, with the majority in the hypoadrenal range. The association between DHEA-S and severity of NAFLD persisted after adjusting for age. A relationship between disease/fibrosis severity and DHEA-S levels was not seen in patients with cholestatic liver diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More advanced NAFLD, as indicated by the presence of NASH with advanced fibrosis stage, is strongly associated with low circulating DHEA-S. These data provide novel evidence for relative DHEA-S deficiency in patients with histologically advanced NASH.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Angulo
authors.forename: Naga
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chalasani
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Merriman
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Viker
authors.forename: Phunchai
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Charatcharoenwitthaya
authors.forename: Schuyler
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanderson
authors.forename: Samer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gawrieh
authors.forename: Anuradha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lindor
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000097:blood* / Q000172:deficiency; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D052243:Resistin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D052242:Adiponectin; D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D020738:Leptin; D052243:Resistin; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D002097:C-Reactive Protein