Table 1. Summary of different clinical trials that assessed DHEA in ED and other conditions.
| Authors | Year | Subjects | Duration | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feldman et al [31] | 1994 | 1,265/total 1,709 men in the MMAS study | 8 y follow-up | In the MMAS, DHEA sulfate was the only hormone that showed a negative correlation to the prevalence of ED among 17 investigated hormones, including T and estradiol. |
| Reiter et al [33] | 2000 | 309 patients with ED and 133 healthy volunteers | - | Until the age of 60 years, the mean serum level of DHEAS is lower in patients with ED than in healthy volunteers. |
| Reiter et al [34] | 2001 | 27 patients with hypertension, 24 patients with diabetes mellitus, 6 patients with neurological disorders, and 28 patients with no organic etiology were treated with 50 mg DHEA. | 6 mo | Oral DHEA-treatment may be of benefit to patients with ED who have hypertension or to patients with ED without organic etiology. |
| Morales et al [35] | 2009 | 86 men received: oral T (n=29) 80 mg twice daily, DHEA (n=28) 50 mg twice daily, or placebo (n=29) | No clinical benefit of T or DHEA supplementation in men with hypoandrogenism and SD. | |
| Munarriz et al [38] | 2002 | Women with sexual dysfunction | Androgen replacement therapy with DHEA is a safe and effective treatment for androgen insufficiency with female sexual dysfunction. | |
| Nair et al [43] | 2006 | Placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind; 87 men and 57 elderly women | 2 y | Neither DHEA nor low-dose testosterone replacement in elderly people has physiologically relevant beneficial effects on body composition, physical performance, insulin sensitivity, or quality of life. |
| Løvås et al [47] | 2003 | Thirty-nine women | 9 mo | No evidence of beneficial effects of DHEA on subjective health status and sexuality in adrenal failure. |
| Hunt et al [48] | 2000 | A randomized, double blind study in which 39 patients with Addison's disease | 12 wk DHEA then 4-wk washout period, then 12 wk of placebo | DHEA replacement corrects this steroid deficiency effectively and improves some aspects of psychological function. |
| Yoshida et al [58] | 2010 | 419 individuals; 208 males and 211 females | - | DHEAS is inversely associated with sex dependent diverse carotid atherosclerosis such as increased maximum and mean intima-media thickness in males and decreased common carotid arteries-blood flow volume in females. |
| Genazzani et al [63] | 2011 | 48 healthy postmenopausal women randomized into three groups received DHEA, daily oral estradiol plus dihydrogesterone, or daily oral tibolone | 12 mo | Daily oral DHEA therapy, hormonal replacement therapy and tibolone all provided a significant improvement in sexual function and in frequency of sexual intercourse in early postmenopausal women |
DHEA: dehydroepiandrosterone, ED: erectile dysfunction, MMAS: Massachusetts Male Aging Study, DHEAS: DHEA and DHEA sulfate, T: testosterone, SD: sexual dysfunction.