Trial reportThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2008
Long-term DHEA replacement in primary adrenal insufficiency: a randomized, controlled trial.
Trial report in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 186 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of androgen measurement in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and diagnostic meta-analysis to inform evidence-based guidelines.Human reproduction update · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Dehydroepiandrosterone replacement therapy in hypoadrenal women: protein anabolism and skeletal muscle function.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2008Trial
- Trial
- Primary adrenal insufficiency induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs): a case series and systematic literature review.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2026Review
- Anti-aging effects of the adrenal androgens dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate: mechanisms of action and beneficial effects in older people.Endocrine journal · 2026Review
- Semiparametric mixture regression for asynchronous longitudinal data using multivariate functional principal component analysis.Biostatistics (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Review
- Female fertility and pregnancy in autoimmune Addison's disease - a mini review.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- Dehydroepiandrosterone and Bone Health: Mechanisms and Insights.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Dehydroepiandrosterone and Its Metabolite 5-Androstenediol: New Therapeutic Targets and Possibilities for Clinical Application.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Androgen deficiency in hypopituitary women: its consequences and management.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2024Review
- Predictors of bone mineral density in patients receiving glucocorticoid replacement for Addison's disease.Endocrine · 2024Article
- Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Primary Adrenal Insufficiency.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Bone Tissue Evaluation Indicates Abnormal Mineralization in Patients with Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome Type I: Report on Three Cases.Calcified tissue international · 2023Article
- Low serum dehydroepiandrosterone is associated with diabetic dyslipidemia risk in males with type 2 diabetes.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Should Dehydroepiandrosterone Be Administered to Women?The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2022Review
- Trabecular bone score and sclerostin concentrations in patients with primary adrenal insufficiency.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- The Utilization of Dehydroepiandrosterone as a Sexual Hormone Precursor in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women: An Overview.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Due to 17-α-hydroxylase Deficiency: A Case Report.TouchREVIEWS in endocrinology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
contextDehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and DHEA sulfate (DHEAS) are the major circulating adrenal steroids and substrates for peripheral sex hormone biosynthesis. In Addison's disease, glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid deficiencies require lifelong replacement, but the associated near-total failure of DHEA synthesis is not typically corrected. OBJECTIVE AND
designIn a double-blind trial, we randomized 106 subjects (44 males, 62 females) with Addison's disease to receive either 50 mg daily of micronized DHEA or placebo orally for 12 months to evaluate its longer-term effects on bone mineral density, body composition, and cognitive function together with well-being and fatigue.
resultsCirculating DHEAS and androstenedione rose significantly in both sexes, with testosterone increasing to low normal levels only in females. DHEA reversed ongoing loss of bone mineral density at the femoral neck (P < 0.05) but not at other sites; DHEA enhanced total body (P = 0.02) and truncal (P = 0.017) lean mass significantly with no change in fat mass. At baseline, subscales of psychological well-being in questionnaires (Short Form-36, General Health Questionnaire-30), were significantly worse in Addison's patients vs. control populations (P < 0.001), and one subscale of SF-36 improved significantly (P = 0.004) after DHEA treatment. There was no significant benefit of DHEA treatment on fatigue or cognitive or sexual function. Supraphysiological DHEAS levels were achieved in some older females who experienced mild androgenic side effects.
conclusionAlthough further long-term studies of DHEA therapy, with dosage adjustment, are desirable, our results support some beneficial effects of prolonged DHEA treatment in Addison's disease.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.