DHEA Moderates the Impact of Childhood Trauma on the HPA Axis in Adolescence.

Background: Trauma can lead to long-term downregulation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. However, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has neuroprotective effects that may reduce the need for downregulation of the axis in response to stress. Furthermore, high DHEA/cortisol ratios are often conceptualized as better markers of DHEA's availability than DHEA alone, as ratios account for the coupling of DHEA and cortisol in response to stress.

Early trauma moderates the link between familial risk for depression and post-stress DHEA/cortisol ratios in adolescents.

Background: One proposed mechanism for familial transmission of depression risk is impaired ability to regulate stress. While much of this work has focused on the stress hormone cortisol, there is evidence that the neuroprotective hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) may play a critical role in stress regulation and that the ratios of DHEA to cortisol may provide meaningful information about individual differences in stress processing. In this study, we examined DHEA and DHEA/cortisol ratios among teens at low and high risk for depression.