No evidence of androgenic neurosteroid involvement in pediatric OCD

Abstract

Certain androgenic neurosteroids have been shown to have a relationship with anxiety disorders in adults. Demonstrating these changes in pediatric patients as well is important in terms of elucidating the etiology of these disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the testosterone, DHEA-S and cortisol levels in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. A total of 39 pediatric OCD patients aged 7–16 years and 34 healthy children of similar age and gender were included in this study. Serum total testosterone, DHEA-S and cortisol levels were measured by using the ELISA method and their relationship with clinical data was investigated. No statistically significant difference was found between the patient and control groups in terms of testosterone, DHEA-A and cortisol levels in the analyses performed (p=0.175, p=0.642, p=0.842, respectively). The results of this first study have revealed that testosterone, DHEA-S and cortisol levels in pediatric OCD patients are not different than in the controls. However, the fact that these neurosteroid levels have been found to differ between adult patients and controls previously indicates that neurosteroid changes may be a finding that appears during the course of anxiety disorders.