DHEA improves mood and energy in HIV-infected patients - Literature Review & Commentary

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  April, 2002  by Alan R. Gaby

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Forty-five HIV-infected men and women, unselected for baseline DHEA level, with depressed mood and fatigue, were treated with DHEA for 8 weeks. The initial dose was 100 mg/day for 1 week, then 200 mg/day for 2 weeks, then 300 mg/day; this was increased to a maximum of 500 mg/day, if there was no clinical improvement and no significant side effects. Of 32 patients who completed 8 weeks of treatment, 72% experienced an improvement in mood and 81% experienced an improvement in fatigue. These responses were unrelated to baseline DHEA-sulfate levels.

Comment: Previous studies have demonstrated that supplementation with DHEA relieves depression in some individuals. In addition, DHEA has a number of positive effects on the immune system. DHEA levels (measured as DHEA sulfate) are often low in patients with HIV infection, and low levels are associated with a worse disease outcome. The present study suggests that DHEA supplementation is beneficial for some patients with HIV infection. However, as with other previous studies of HIV-infected patients, unusually large doses were used. As I have stated before, there is reason to believe that smaller doses (such as 5-15 mg/day for women and 10-30 mg/day for men) may be more effective than larger doses. Of course, patients with HIV-related enteropathy may not absorb DHEA properly, and may need somewhat larger doses than these. Measuring serum DHEA-sulfate levels may provide a rough estimate of how much DHEA TO use; however, the optimum serum concentration is not known.

Rabkin JG, et al. DHEA treatment for HIV+ patients: effects on mood, androgenic and anabolic parameters. psychoneuroendocrinology 2000;25:53-68.

COPYRIGHT 2002 The Townsend Letter Group
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