DHEA: A natural steroid for the treatment of menopausal women

DHEA is one of the main adrenal hormones that progressively reduces its plasmatic levels starting from the 30ies. This phenomenon implies not only the reduction of the plasmatic androgens, but also the decrease of a peculiar class of hormones, named neurosteroids, in particular allopregnanolone, the most powerful one, characterized by antidepressant and ansiolitic effect. During the latest years the putative role of the use of DHEA as replacement therapy for menopausal women has been under consideration, especially because of the failure of hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) in improving some discomforts of menopausal age, such as loss of libido and changes of mood. This review aims to elucidate the peculiar aspects of DHEA administration and its putative use as substitutive/integrative hormonal treatment alone or in combination with the traditional HRT. © Copyright 2014, CIC Edizioni Internazionali.