ABSTRACT
Adrenal steroid hormones, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate ester (DHEAS), are the most abundant circulating precursors to androgens and estrogens in humans. Plasma observational studies have indicated that plasma DHEA and DHEAS are inversely correlated with cardiovascular diseases or angiographically de‰ned coronary artery diseases in men (Barrett-Connor and Goodman-Gruen 1995; Mitchell et al. 1994; Slowinska-Srzednicka et al. 1989) but not in women (Porsova-Dutoit, Sulcova, and Starka 2000). These studies suggest that both DHEA and DHEAS may have an antiatherosclerotic or antiarteriosclerotic effect in men.
