Title:The Effects of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in the Treatment of Depression and Depressive Symptoms in Other Psychiatric and Medical Illnesses: A Systematic Review
Volume: 15
Issue: 9
Author(s): Clayton Peixoto, Julio Nelson Devicari Cheda, Antonio Egidio Nardi, Andre Barciela Veras and Adriana Cardoso
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Depressed, depressing, depression, depressive, DHEA, DHEA-S, mood, treatment.
Abstract: International interest on the benefits of using the steroid hormone Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on various
aspects of human health, including the regulation of mood, is increasing. This study aimed to review the scientific literature
on the use of DHEA in the treatment of depression and depressive symptoms in other psychiatric and medical illnesses.
PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge and Virtual Health Library (VHL) databases were independently searched by two
researchers using the following terms: depression, treatment, DHEA, and mood. Clinical studies were considered eligible
when subjects were treated with DHEA and psychological assessments of depression were conducted. No time limits or
language for this research were imposed. One 183 references were identified, and 22 references were selected to compose
this review. Significant improvements related to the use of DHEA in patients with depression were observed, in addition
to improvements in depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa, HIV and adrenal insufficiency.
No significant improvements were observed regarding depressive symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia; the results observed
in patients with autoimmune diseases and healthy individuals remain contradictory. Although the selected studies
demonstrated good methodological applications, most studies consisted of small samples, and only 3 studies were conducted
in a young population. Therefore, we concluded that the studies published to date indicate promising results regarding
the use of DHEA in the treatment of depression and depressive symptoms, especially in depression that is mild or
resistant to conventional therapy.
