title: Low Levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate in Younger Burnout Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-s) is an anabolic protective hormone of importance for maintenance of health. DHEA-s levels peak in young adults and decline thereafter with age. DHEA-s has previously been shown to be lower in individuals reporting prolonged stress. This study investigates DHEA-s levels in patients with clinical burnout, a disorder caused by long-term psychosocial stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  122 patients (51% men) and 47 controls (51% men) in the age 25-54 years were included in the study. DHEA-s levels were compared between patients and controls in the whole sample and within each of the three 10-year-interval age groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the youngest age group (25-34 years), DHEA-s levels were on average 25% lower in the patients (p = 0.006). The differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls were more pronounced among female than male participants (on average 32% and 13% lower, respectively). There were no differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls in the age group 35-44 years (p = 0.927) or 45-54 years (p = 0.897) or when analyzing all age groups together (p = 0.187).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study indicates that levels of the health promoting "youth" hormone DHEA-s are low in younger burnout patients. The fact that younger adults have much higher DHEA-s levels and more pronounced inter-subject variability in DHEA-s levels than older individuals might explain why burnout status differentiates patients from controls only among the youngest patients included in this study.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Stress Medicine, Gothenburg, Sweden; Center for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna-Karin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Lennartsson
authors.affiliation: Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Töres
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Theorell
authors.affiliation: ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Laboratory, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.
authors.forename: Mark M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kushnir
authors.affiliation: Institute of Stress Medicine, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ingibjörg H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Jonsdottir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate