ABSTRACT
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is an endogenous steroid that has been implicated in a broad range of biological effects in humans and other mammals (Schulman and Dean 2007). DHEA is produced by the adrenal glands, gonads, and the brain (Mo, Lu, and Simon 2006). Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) is the sulfated version of DHEA. In the blood, most DHEA is found as DHEAS with levels that are about 300 times higher than those of free DHEA. Plasma DHEAS levels in adult women are 10,000 times higher than those of testosterone and 3,000-30,000 times higher than those of estradiol (E2), thus providing a large reservoir of substrate for conversion into androgens and/or estrogens in the peripheral tissues, which possess the enzymatic mechanisms necessary to transform DHEA into active sex steroids (NIH National Library of Medicine).
