title: Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate replacement improves the human plasma fatty acid profile in plasma of obese women.
abstract: DHEA-S treatment is used as an anti-aging and anti-obesity hormone therapy in adults; however, it mechanisms of action are not clearly elucidated. The objective of the present work was to analyze the effect of a replacement therapy, which included a daily single oral dose of DHEA-S for three months, on the composition of human plasma fatty acids (FAs) in obese women. In the first study, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted involving 61 postmenopausal women, who were assigned to receive 100mg/day of DHEA-S (n = 41) or placebo (n = 20) orally for 3 months. In a second study, the effect of DHEA-S treatment on postmenopausal obese women (n = 41) was compared to that in premenopausal obese women (n = 20). Blood samples were collected at the beginning and at the end of the treatment. Plasma FAs were analyzed by gas chromatography. DHEA-S treatment produced significant changes in plasma FAs of both post- and premenopausal women with a reduction of total saturated FAs (SFA) as well as an increase in n-6 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA). Particularly, in premenopausal women the DHEA-S treatment also increased the plasma n-3 PUFA percentage. Regarding estimation of desaturase activity, our data showed that Δ6-desaturase was significantly decreased in postmenopausal women after DHEA-S treatment, whereas Δ5-desaturase was increased in the premenopausal group. In conclusion, DHEA-S treatment in obese women modifies plasma FA composition towards a potentially better metabolic profile, mainly by decreasing SFA and increasing n-6 PUFA in both postmenopausal and premenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gómez-Santos
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Larqué
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Granero
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hernández-Morante
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garaulet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects; D017697:Premenopause / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D005227:Fatty Acids; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate