BACKGROUND Previous studies suggested that alterations in serum cortisol and DHEA-S levels may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Imbalance in serum cortisol and DHEA-S levels may be related to responsivity to antipsychotic treatment. AIM To compare serum cortisol and DHEA-S levels between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and to evaluate their association wit...

OBJECTIVE To determine the role of adrenal androgenic hormone precursors in female sexual function. DESIGN A review of current literature on sexual function and the androgen precursor hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). RESULT(S) The C(19) steroid DHEA is both an ovarian and adrenal androgen precursor hormone, whereas DHEAS is only synthesized i...

Neurosteroids are modulators of neuronal function that may play important roles in brain maturation. We determined whether chronic prenatal ethanol exposure altered neurosteroid levels in the developing brain. Rat dams were exposed to: (i) a 5% ethanol-containing liquid diet that produces peak maternal blood alcohol levels near the legal intoxication limit (approximately 0.08 g/dL); (ii) an iso...

This purpose of this study was to evaluate whether serum dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate conjugate, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), are associated with the likelihood of developing colon cancer. A nested case-control study was conducted using the serum bank and cancer registry in Washington County, Maryland. From a population of 20,305 county residents who donated blood in...

Wu, Sing-Yung, Daniel H. Polk, Wen-Sheng Huang, and Delbert A. Fisher. Fetal-to-maternal transfer of 3,38,5triiodothyronine sulfate and its metabolite in sheep. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Endocrinol. Metab. 40): E915–E919, 1999.— Earlier studies have shown that sulfoconjugation is a major pathway of thyroid hormone metabolism in fetal mammals. To assess the placental transfer of sulfoconjugates in th...

Wu, Sing-Yung, Daniel H. Polk, Wen-Sheng Huang, and Delbert A. Fisher. Fetal-to-maternal transfer of 3,38,5triiodothyronine sulfate and its metabolite in sheep. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Endocrinol. Metab. 40): E915–E919, 1999.— Earlier studies have shown that sulfoconjugation is a major pathway of thyroid hormone metabolism in fetal mammals. To assess the placental transfer of sulfoconjugates in th...

BACKGROUND Recent laboratory studies have suggested that cadmium is an estrogenic compound and may be a potential risk factor for breast cancer. METHODS We investigated the relationship between urinary cadmium concentrations and serum concentrations of estrone, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in 164 postmenopausal Japanese women. RESULTS There was a significant positive ass...