DHEA and DHEA-S levels in posttraumatic stress disorder: A meta-analytic review

Abstract

Differences in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) functioning between patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and controls are among the most consistent neurobiological findings in PTSD. HPA-axis activation results in the output of various steroid hormones including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which is then converted into dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), with anti-glucocorticoid actions among its pleiotropic effects.To investigate whether there is evidence for consistent differences in basal DHEA and DHEA-s levels between individuals with and without PTSD, we performed random-effect meta-analyses aggregating findings of previously published studies.Nine studies reporting on DHEA levels (486 participants) and 8 studies reporting on DHEA-S levels (501 participants) were included. No significant differences in DHEA or DHEA-S levels between PTSD and control groups were found. Exploratory subgroup analyses were performed to distinguish between effects of PTSD and trauma exposure.A trend for higher DHEA levels was found in PTSD patients compared to non-trauma-exposed controls (NTC) (k=3, SMD=1.12 95% CI −0.03–2.52, Z=1.91, p=0.06). Significantly higher DHEA-S levels were observed in PTSD patients compared to NTC (k=2, SMD=0.76, 95% CI 0.38–1.13, Z=3.94, p<0.001). Additionally, significantly higher DHEA levels were observed in trauma-exposed controls (TC) compared to NTC (k=3, SMD=0.66, 95% CI 0.33–0.99, Z=3.88, p<0.001, I2=86%) this suggests that trauma exposure, irrespective of further PTSD development, might increase basal DHEA and DHEA-S levels.