Figure 2. Androgenic activities of DHEA, EpiAND or 3β-diol.
(a) PSA secretions into the medium by LNCaP cells (1 × 105 cells/ml) treated with DHEA, EpiAND or 3β-diol (0, 1 or 10 nM) for 3 days. (b) Absorbance of MTS assay of LNCaP cells (1 × 105 cells/ml) treated with DHEA, EpiAND or 3β-diol (0, 1 or 10 nM) for 3 days. Optical density (OD). (c) DHT levels secreted into the medium in LNCaP cells (1 × 105 cells/ml) treated with 10 nM of DHEA, EpiAND or 3β-diol for 3 days were measured using LC-MS. PSA secretions and absorbances increased in the presence of EpiAND and 3β-diol in a concentration-dependent manner. At concentrations of 1 and 10 nM, 3β-diol exhibited higher androgenic activities than EpiAND in LNCaP cells. DHT levels were also higher in the presence of 3β-diol than in the presence of EpiAND. DHEA at 10 nM slightly stimulated LNCaP cell proliferation, but the stimulation was not significant and increase of DHT level was not measured. Data displayed are the mean ± s.d and are representative of at least three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, vs. CTRL, by using t-test.