Acute Dehydroepiandrosterone Effects on Sexual Arousal in Premenopausal Women

Abstract

The present investigation was designed to provide the first empirical examination of the effects of acute dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) administration on subjective and physiological sexual arousal in women. The primary purpose was to assess whether DHEA influences vaginal blood flow response in sexually functional women. Subjective (self-report) and physiological (vaginal photoplethysmograph) sexual responses to erotic stimuli were measured following DHEA (300 mg) and placebo administration in 12 sexually functional, premenopausal women, using a single-blind protocol. Acute DHEA significantly increased blood levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) 30 min following drug administration but had no significant effect on either vaginal pulse amplitude responses or subjective responses to the erotic films. Acute DHEA does not appear to substantially influence sexual responding among sexually functional, premenopausal women.