2003 Volume 113 Issue 1 Pages 1-8
In order to evaluate the hormonal environment in adolescent women with acne, we measured serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), testosterone (T), free testosterone (FT), sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), androstenedione (Δ4A), dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels in 65 female patients with acne vulgaris, and 38 healthy controls with regular menstrual cycles. Only the serum DHEA-S levels in acne patients were significantly higher than those in the controls (p<0.001). There was also correlation between DHEA-S levels and acne severity (p<0.001). Thus there is the possibility that DHEA stimulates the activity of sebaceous glands in vivo. In this study the in vitro effects of DHEA on proliferation and lipid synthesis in cultured hamster sebaceous-gland-derived cells were assessed. DHEA stimulated the proliferation and lipid synthesis of cultured hamster sebaceous-gland-derived cells in a significant dose dependent manner (cell proliferation ; 10-9M : p<0.05, 10-8, 10-7, 10-6M : p<0.01, lipid synthesis ; 10-7, 10-6M : p<0.05). These in vivo and in vitro results suggest that DHEA may play a important role in the etiology of acne vulgaris.
