Dehydroepiandrosterone in women with premature ovarian failure and Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Abstract

We evaluated dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels in premature ovarian failure (POF) patients with and without Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and the impact of DHEA supplementation on thyroid autoantibodies. In a retrospective case series, we included 67 women with spontaneous POF who received estrogen/gestagen replacement with or without DHEA (30 mg/day) for 3 months. Women who were seropositive for thyroglobulin antibodies and/or thyroperoxidase autoantibodies (n = 30) revealed lower pretherapeutic DHEAS levels (1.2 μg/ml, range 0.4–2.9 μg/ml vs. 1.9 μg/ml, range 0.2–3.9 μg/ml; p < 0.001). DHEAS showed an inverse correlation with both thyroglobulin antibodies (r = −0.426, p < 0.001) and thyroperoxidase autoantibodies (r = −0.362, p = 0.002). When treated with additional DHEA, significant decreases were found for thyroperoxidase autoantibodies (median 85.0 IU/ml, range 41–600 IU/ml vs. median 51.0 IU/ml, range 20–589 IU/ml; p = 0.005) but not for thyroglobulin antibodies.

Key words::

• THYROPEROXIDASE AUTOANTIBODIES
• THYROGLOBULIN ANTIBODIES
• PREMATURE OVARIAN FAILURE
• HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY
• AUTOIMMUNITY

Conflict of interest The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Source of funding Nil.