Cortisol Awakening Response + DHEA (Saliva)

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Saliva

Optimal result: 137 – 336 pg/mL

Genova Diagnostics

By Healthmatters Editorial Team

Peer-reviewed sources

Elevated levels of DHEA may reflect endogenous exposure and supplementation.

Other considerations include Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS,) adrenal hyperplasia and adrenal tumors.

General recommendations include overall control of the cortisol response, HPA axis support using nutrition, adaptogens, and behavioral modification.

Lower levels of DHEA are seen with advancing age and have been associated with:

- immune dysregulation

- cardiovascular disease

- arthritis

- osteoporosis

- insomnia

- declining cognition

- depression

- fatigue

- and decreased libido

General recommendations include overall control of the cortisol response, HPA axis support using nutrition, adaptogens, and behavioral modification.

DHEA levels peak at around age 25, then decline steadily through the following decades. DHEA can be converted downstream in the steroidogenic pathway to create androgens and estrogens. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and can be protective against corticosterone’s neurotoxic effects.

The normal DHEA concentration alters significantly with age, gender and time of the day. During the day, DHEA values have the highest level in the morning and decrease over the day to the lowest level during night time. This pattern is somewhat similar to Cortisol. For this reason clear indication about the reference values is of utmost importance.

			Morning		Evening
	Age	n	5%-95% percentile	Median	5%-95% percentile	Median
	Age	n	[pg/mL]	[pg/mL]	[pg/mL]	[pg/mL]
Females	14-39	39	101 - 687	277	46 - 406	130
	40-85	31	68 - 397	241	39 - 198	92
	14-85 (total)	70	80 - 641	252	38 - 368	110
Males	16-39	45	117 - 747	363	84 - 457	162
	40-76	25	58 - 480	264	48 - 262	107
	16-76 (total)	70	65 - 737	327	53 - 440	141

References:

Measuring DHEA-S in saliva: time of day differences and positive correlations between two different types of collection methods [L]

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Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) Saliva

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Clinical Sources & References

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