1. From adrenarche to aging of adrenal zona reticularis: precocious female adrenopause onset
- Author
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Emanuelle Nunes-Souza, Mônica Evelise Silveira, Monalisa Castilho Mendes, Seigo Nagashima, Caroline Busatta Vaz de Paula, Guilherme Vieira Cavalcante da Silva, Giovanna Silva Barbosa, Julia Belgrowicz Martins, Lúcia de Noronha, Luana Lenzi, José Renato Sales Barbosa, Rayssa Danilow Fachin Donin, Juliana Ferreira de Moura, Gislaine Custódio, Cleber Machado-Souza, Enzo Lalli, and Bonald Cavalcante de Figueiredo
- Subjects
dehydroepiandrosterone ,dheas ,sulfateddehydroepiandrosterone ,dhea-s ,adrenarche ,adrenopause ,phosphatase and tensin homolog ,pten ,female ,Diseases of the endocrine glands. Clinical endocrinology ,RC648-665 - Abstract
Objective: Adaptive changes in DHEA and sulfated-DHEA (DHEAS) production from adrenal zona reticularis (ZR) have been observed in normal and pathological conditions. Here we used three different cohorts to assess timing differences in DHEAS blood level changes and characterize the relationship between early blood DHEAS reduction and cell number changes in women ZR. Materials and methods: DHEAS plasma samples (n = 463) were analyzed in 166 healthy prepubertal girls before pubarche (35% of the females >40 years old and associated with significantly reduced ZR cell number (ba sed on PTEN and hematoxylin signals). ZR cell loss may in part account for lower DHEA/DHEAS expression, but most cells remain alive with lower DHEA/DHEAS biosynthesis. Conclusion: The timely relation between significant reduction of blood DHEAS levels and decreased ZR cell number at the beginning of the 40s suggests that adrenopause is an additional burden for a significant number of middle-aged women, and may become an emergent problem associated with further sex steroids reduction during the menopausal transition.
- Published
- 2020
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