Dehydroepiandrosterone as Predictor for Progression to AIDS in Asymptomatic Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Men

Abstract

The steroid hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been reported to protect against certain viral infections in animal models and to be a modest inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in vitro. Serum DHEA levels were determined in 41 asymptomatic HIV-1-seropositive subjects, who progressed to AIDS within 5 years after entering a cohort study, in 41 HIV-1-seropositive controls, who remained asymptomatic, and in 41 HIV-1 seronegative controls. At entry, DHEA levels were higher in the seronegative group (median, 13.3 nmol/I) than in either the seropositive nonprogressors (median, 9.2 nmol/l; P = .01) or the progressors (median, 7.2 nmol/l; P < .001). DHEA levels in the progressors ∼5 months before the diagnosis of AIDS were lower than the levels in the nonprogressors after the same follow-up (median, 5.6 vs. 8.8 nmol/l; P = .007). DHEA levels 9/l both proved to be independent predictors for disease progression in HIV-1-infected men.