DHEA-S

DHEA-S has been investigated for relationships to mental and physical stress and psychological and behavioral disorders. ( 9,10,11,12,13)

DHEA-S is a charged molecule, and it cannot diffuse through the neutral lipid membranes of the salivary cells like the other neutral steroids.  The exact mode of entry into saliva is not known.  Formerly, it was thought that DHEA-S enters saliva only by squeezing through the tight junctions between cells, and since it is too large to do this readily only small amounts would be present in saliva. (14)  More recent work has identified a large family of organic anion transport polypeptides (OATP) that actively transport molecules such as DHEA-S across membranes.  It is therefore seems likely that such a mode of entry occurs for DHEA-S into the saliva glands. (15,16)  Salivary levels of DHEA-S are quite low–less than 0.1 % of plasma levels in parotid saliva. (14) However, because levels of DHEA-S in blood are 250 and 500 times higher than DHEA in women and men, respectively, (2) the levels found in saliva are high enough to be measurable.  Due to the restrictive mode of entry for DHEA-S into saliva, its levels in saliva decrease as salivary flow rates increase. (14)  DHEA-S measurements in saliva must therefore be corrected for flow rate.  Because of the much higher levels of DHEA-S in blood, it is important to minimize the risk of blood contamination in the saliva samples. Salivary and plasma levels of DHEA-S show a significant positive correlation. (17)

References

1. Summarized in Whetzel, C.A., Klein, L.C. Measuring DHEA-S in saliva: Time of day differences and positive correlations between two different types of collection methods.  BMC Res Notes, 3:204.
2. Krobath, P.D., Salek, F.S., Pittenger, A.L. et al. (1999).  DHEA and DHEA-S: A review.  J Clin Pharmacol 39(4), 327-48.
3. Rosenfeld, R.S., Rosenberg, B.J., Fukushima, D.K., Hellman, L. (1975).  24-Hour secretory pattern of dehydroisoandrosterone and dehydroisoandrosterone sulfate.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 40(5), 850-55.
4. Carlström, K., Karlsson, R., Von Schoultz, B. (2002).  Diurnal rhythm and effects of oral contraceptives on serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) are related to alterations in serum albumin rather than to changes in adrenocortical steroid secretion.  Scan J Clin Lab Invest, 62(5), 361-68.
5. Labrie, F., Bélanger, A., Cusan, L., Candas, B. (1997).  Physiological changes in dehydroepiandrosterone are not reflected by serum levels of active androgens and estrogens but of their metabolites: Intracrinology.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 82(8), 2403-9.
6. Labrie, F., Luu-The, V. Bélanger, A., et al. (2005).  Is dehydroepiandrosterone a hormone? J Endocrinol, 187, 169-96.
7. Charalampopoulos, I., Alexaki, V.-I., Tsatsanis, C., et al. (2006).  Neurosteroids as endogenous inhibitors of neuronal cell apoptosis in aging.  Ann N Y Acad Science, 1088, 138-52.
8. Baulieu, E.-E., Robel, P. (1998). Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) as neuroactive neurosteroids.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 95(8), 4089-91.)
9. Kellner, M., Muhtz, C., Peter, F., et al. (2010).  Increased DHEA and DHEA-S plasma levels in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder and a history of childhood abuse. J Psychiatr Res, 44(4), 215-9.
10. Golubchik, P., Mozes, T., Maayan, R., Weizman, A. (2009).  Neurosteroid blood levels in delinquent adolescent boys with conduct disorder. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol, 19(1), 49-52.
11. Azurmendi, A., Braza, F., Garcia, F. et al. (2006). Aggression, dominance and affiliation: Their relationships with androgen levels and intelligence in 5-year-old children. Horm Behav, 50(1), 132-40.
12. MacLaughlin, B.W., Wang, D., Noone, A.-M., et al. (2010).  Stress biomarkers in medical students participating in a mind body medicine skills program.  eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/neq039.
13. Wang, J.-S., Chen, S.-M., Lee, S.-P., et al. 2009).  Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate linked to physiologic response against hot spring immersion. Steroids, 74(12), 945-49.
14. Vining, R.F., McGinley, R.A., Symons, R.G. (1983).  Hormones in saliva: Mode of entry and consequent implications for clinical interpretation.  Clin Chem, 29(10), 1752-56.
15. Konttinen, Y.T., Stegaev, V., Mackiewicz, Z., et al. (2010).  Salivary glands -- ‘an unisex organ’? Oral Dis, 16(7), 577-85.
16. Pomari, E., Nardi, A., Fiore, C., et al. (2009).  Transcriptional control of human organic anion transporting polypeptide 2B1 gene.  J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 115(3-5), 146-52.
17. Jezova, D., Hlavacova, N. (2008). Endocrine factors in stress and psychiatric disorders: Focus on anxiety and salivary steroids.  Ann N Y Acad Sci, 1148, 495-503.