Gender differences in the relationships among neurosteroid serum levels, cognitive function, and quality of life

Figures & data

Table 1 Comparisons of demographic data, cognitive function, quality of life, and neurosteroids levels in male and female healthy subjects

Variables	Male (n=47)		Female (n=75)		Statistic value (T)	P-value
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Demographic data
Age, years	32.83	11.77	35.35	10.07	1.258	0.211
Height, cm	171.88	11.37	157.83	4.52	8.083	<0.001a
Body weight, kg	75.723	14.76	55.44	8.35	8.597	<0.001a
Years of education	16.02	2.67	16.23	2.49	0.431	0.667
Cognitive function (BACS)
Verbal memory	52.79	9.76	50.75	9.67	1.130	0.261
Working memory	51.06	9.04	50.43	6.55	0.450	0.653
Motor speed	47.91	9.95	48.69	7.85	0.480	0.632
Verbal fluency	48.96	10.57	49.91	9.68	0.509	0.612
Attention and processing speed	49.40	9.35	51.03	9.73	0.910	0.365
Executive function	50.00	9.77	52.79	7.37	1.789	0.076
Composite score of the BACS	49.89	9.06	51.09	7.97	0.767	0.444
Quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF)
Physical health	21.51	3.20	21.63	3.80	0.174	0.862
Psychological health	19.47	3.18	19.60	3.66	0.204	0.839
Social relations	13.87	2.46	14.13	2.72	0.534	0.594
Environment	31.55	4.73	31.76	5.73	0.207	0.836
Neurosteroids
DHEA (ng/mL)	9.31	5.08	7.11	3.76	2.748	0.007a
DHEA-S (µg/dL)	342.85	131.98	226.71	107.00	5.326	<0.001a
Pregnenolone (ng/mL)	6.14	4.70	3.87	3.94	2.867	0.005a
Cortisol (µg/dL)	10.19	3.56	9.09	3.48	1.674	0.097

Note:

a P<0.05.

Abbreviations: BACS, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate; WHOQOL-BREF, the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life.

Table 2 Effects of age, gender, and the interaction of age and gender on neurosteroid levels

	DHEA		DHEA-S		Pregnenolone
	F	P-value	F	P-value	F	P-value
Age effect	23.776	<0.001a	53.140	<0.001a	12.734	0.001a
Sex effect	4.268	0.041a	8.624	0.004a	0.688	0.409
Interaction of age and sex	1.917	0.169	1.703	0.194	0.002	0.967

Notes: Data are computed using MANCOVA.

a P<0.05.

Abbreviations: DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate; MANCOVA, multivariate analysis of covariance.

Figure 1 The relationship between age and serum levels of DHEA (A), DHEA-S (B), and pregnenolone (C), divided by gender.

Abbreviations: DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate.

Table 3 Correlations between neurosteroid serum levels, cognitive function, and quality of life in male subjects (N=47)

	DHEA		DHEA-S		Pregnenolone
	F	P-value	F	P-value	F	P-value
Cognitive function (BACS)
Verbal memory	0.633	0.431	0.437	0.512	1.336	0.255
Working memory	0.278	0.601	5.034	0.031a	4.446	0.041a
Motor speed	0.012	0.912	1.331	0.256	1.387	0.246
Verbal fluency	1.878	0.178	3.446	0.071	5.299	0.027a
Attention and processing speed	1.070	0.307	0.092	0.763	0.679	0.415
Executive function	0.055	0.816	0.150	0.701	0.575	0.453
Composite score of the BACS	0.014	0.906	2.527	0.120	5.887	0.020a
Quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF)
Physical health	5.034	0.031a	0.998	0.324	0.034	0.856
Psychological health	2.028	0.162	0.193	0.663	0.179	0.675
Social relations	4.215	0.047a	0.030	0.862	2.007	0.164
Environment	10.172	0.003a	0.256	0.615	0.814	0.373

Notes: Data are computed using MANCOVA, controlling for age and educational level.

a P<0.05.

Abbreviations: BACS, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate; MANCOVA, multivariate analysis of covariance; WHOQOL-BREF, the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life.

Table 4 Correlations between neurosteroid serum levels, cognitive function, and quality of life in female subjects (N=75)

	DHEA		DHEA-S		Pregnenolone
	F	P-value	F	P-value	F	P-value
Cognitive function (BACS)
Verbal memory	0.920	0.341	0.772	0.383	0.002	0.964
Working memory	0.942	0.335	9.245	0.003a	1.029	0.314
Motor speed	0.028	0.868	0.041	0.840	0.011	0.918
Verbal fluency	2.655	0.108	0.913	0.343	1.254	0.267
Attention and processing speed	1.835	0.180	0.117	0.733	0.537	0.466
Executive function	1.305	0.257	1.794	0.185	2.989	0.088
Composite score of the BACS	1.027	0.314	3.833	0.054	1.055	0.308
Quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF)
Physical health	0.287	0.594	0.002	0.965	0.324	0.571
Psychological health	0.000	0.999	1.186	0.280	0.003	0.956
Social relations	0.599	0.442	0.392	0.534	0.016	0.900
Environment	0.000	0.992	0.002	0.966	0.001	0.971

Notes: Data are computed using MANCOVA, controlling for age and educational level.

a P<0.05.

Abbreviations: BACS, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate; MANCOVA, multivariate analysis of covariance; WHOQOL-BREF, the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life.

Table S1 Correlations between neurosteroid serum levels, cognitive function, and quality of life in older female subjects (>35 years old, N=40)

	DHEA		DHEA-S		Pregnenolone
	r	P-value	r	P-value	r	P-value
Cognitive function (BACS)
Verbal memory	0.02	0.904	0.166	0.307	0.086	0.599
Working memory	0.175	0.281	0.448	0.004a	−0.008	0.959
Motor speed	−0.057	0.726	0.074	0.648	−0.074	0.652
Verbal fluency	−0.248	0.122	0.151	0.352	0.184	0.257
Attention and processing speed	−0.134	0.411	−0.01	0.949	0.172	0.288
Executive function	−0.123	0.451	0.092	0.574	0.344	0.03a
Composite score of the BACS	−0.059	0.719	0.273	0.088	0.219	0.175
Quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF)
Physical health	−0.018	0.914	−0.065	0.691	0.044	0.786
Psychological health	0.1	0.537	0.172	0.289	−0.007	0.967
Social relations	−0.003	0.985	0.032	0.842	0.047	0.774
Environment	−0.022	0.893	−0.112	0.493	−0.157	0.334

Notes: Data are computed using Pearson Correlation.

a P<0.01.

Abbreviations: BACS, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate; WHOQOL-BREF, the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life.

Table S2 Correlations between neurosteroid serum levels, cognitive function, and quality of life in older female subjects (≥35 years old, N=35)

	DHEA		DHEA-S		Pregnenolone
	r	P-value	r	P-value	r	P-value
Cognitive function (BACS)
Verbal memory	−0.233	0.178	0.022	0.902	−0.075	0.67
Working memory	0.092	0.598	0.208	0.231	−0.018	0.917
Motor speed	0.014	0.938	−0.072	0.683	0.244	0.158
Verbal fluency	−0.014	0.937	0.183	0.292	0.196	0.259
Attention and processing speed	−0.191	0.271	0.032	0.853	0.032	0.856
Executive function	−0.067	0.7	0.273	0.112	0.034	0.845
Composite score of the BACS	−0.08	0.648	0.184	0.291	0.159	0.361
Quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF)
Physical health	−0.157	0.368	0.001	0.996	−0.045	0.796
Psychological health	−0.028	0.875	0.037	0.834	0.075	0.668
Social relations	−0.141	0.42	0.084	0.63	−0.028	0.872
Environment	−0.061	0.729	−0.009	0.959	−0.062	0.723

Note: Data are computed using Pearson Correlation.

Abbreviations: BACS, the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEA-S, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate; WHOQOL-BREF, the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life.