Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), also known as androstenolone, is an endogenous steroid hormone precursor. It is one of the most abundant circulating steroids in humans. DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands, the gonads, and the brain. It functions as a metabolic intermediate in the biosynthesis of the androgen and estrogen sex steroids both in the gonads and in various other tissues. However, DHEA also has a variety of potential biological effects in its own right, binding to an array of nuclear and cell surface receptors, and acting as a neurosteroid and modulator of neurotrophic factor receptors.
An androgen prohormone, or proandrogen, is a prohormone of an anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS). They can be prohormones of testosterone or of synthetic AAS, for example, nandrolone (19-nortestosterone). Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S), and androstenedione may all be considered proandrogens of testosterone.
Prasterone, also known as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and sold under the brand name Intrarosa among others, is a medication as well as over-the-counter dietary supplement which is used to correct DHEA deficiency due to adrenal insufficiency or old age, as a component of menopausal hormone therapy, to treat painful sexual intercourse due to vaginal atrophy, and to prepare the cervix for childbirth, among other uses. It is taken by mouth, by application to the skin, in through the vagina, or by injection into muscle.
Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, abbreviated as DHEA sulfate or DHEA-S, also known as androstenolone sulfate, is an endogenous androstane steroid that is produced by the adrenal cortex. It is the 3β-sulfate ester and a metabolite of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and circulates in far greater relative concentrations than DHEA. The steroid is hormonally inert and is instead an important neurosteroid and neurotrophin.
3β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/Δ5-4 isomerase (3β-HSD) is an enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of the steroid progesterone from pregnenolone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone from 17α-hydroxypregnenolone, and androstenedione from dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in the adrenal gland. It is the only enzyme in the adrenal pathway of corticosteroid synthesis that is not a member of the cytochrome P450 family. It is also present in other steroid-producing tissues, including the ovary, testis and placenta. In humans, there are two 3β-HSD isozymes encoded by the HSD3B1 and HSD3B2 genes.
Prasterone sulfate, also known as dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), is a naturally occurring androstane steroid which is marketed and used in Japan and other countries as a labor inducer in the treatment of insufficient cervical ripening and dilation during childbirth. It is the C3β sulfate ester of prasterone, and is known to act as a prohormone of DHEA and by extension of androgens and estrogens, although it also has its own activity as a neurosteroid. Prasterone sulfate is used medically as the sodium salt via injection and is referred to by the name sodium prasterone sulfate.
Epiandrosterone, or isoandrosterone, also known as 3β-androsterone, 3β-hydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one, or 5α-androstan-3β-ol-17-one, is a steroid hormone with weak androgenic activity. It is a metabolite of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). It was first isolated in 1931, by Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt and Kurt Tscherning. They distilled over 17,000 litres of male urine, from which they got 50 milligrams of crystalline androsterone, which was sufficient to find that the chemical formula was very similar to estrone.
16α-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone is an endogenous metabolite of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Both 16α-OH-DHEA and its 3β-sulfate ester, 16α-OH-DHEA-S, are intermediates in the biosynthesis of estriol from dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). 16α-OH-DHEA has estrogenic activity.
Pregnenolone sulfate is an endogenous excitatory neurosteroid that is synthesized from pregnenolone. It is known to have cognitive and memory-enhancing, antidepressant, anxiogenic, and proconvulsant effects.
7-Ketodehydroepiandrosterone (7-keto-DHEA,7-oxo-DHEA), also known as 7-oxoprasterone, is a prohormone produced by metabolism of the prohormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
Androstenolone may refer to:
16α-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (16α-OH-DHEA-S), also known as 16α-hydroxy-17-oxoandrost-5-en-3β-yl sulfate, is an endogenous, naturally occurring steroid and a metabolic intermediate in the production of estriol from dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) during pregnancy. It is the C3β sulfate ester of 16α-hydroxy-DHEA.
7β-Hydroxyepiandrosterone (7β-OH-EPIA), also known as 5α-androstan-3β,7β-diol-17-one, is an endogenous androgen, estrogen, and neurosteroid that is produced from dehydroepiandrosterone and epiandrosterone. It has neuroprotective effects and, along with 7α-hydroxyepiandrosterone, may mediate the neuroprotective effects of DHEA. 7β-OH-EPIA may act as a highly potent antagonist of the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER).
1-Androsterone is a synthetic, orally active anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS). It is an androgen prohormone of 1-testosterone (dihydroboldenone), 1-androstenedione, and other 1-dehydrogenated androstanes. The drug has been sold on the Internet as a designer steroid and "dietary supplement". It is a positional isomer of dehydroepiandrosterone.
7α-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone, also known as 3β,7α-dihydroxyandrost-5-ene-17-one, is an endogenous, naturally occurring steroid and a major metabolite of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) that is formed by CYP7B1 in tissues such as the prostate gland and by CYP3A4 in the liver. The major metabolic pathway of DHEA outside the liver is via 7-hydroxylation into 7α-OH-DHEA and 7β-OH-DHEA. 7α-OH-DHEA has weak estrogenic activity, selectively activating the estrogen receptor ERβ. In addition, 7α-OH-DHEA may be responsible for the known antiglucocorticoid effects of DHEA.
7β-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone, also known as 3β,7β-dihydroxyandrost-5-ene-17-one, is an endogenous, naturally occurring steroid and a metabolite of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). The major metabolic pathway of DHEA outside the liver is via 7-hydroxylation into 7α-OH-DHEA and 7β-OH-DHEA. 7β-OH-DHEA has weak antiestrogenic activity, selectively antagonizing the estrogen receptor ERβ.
7α-Hydroxyepiandrosterone (7α-OH-EPIA), also known as 3β,7α-dihydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one, is an endogenous, naturally occurring metabolite of epiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) that is formed by the enzyme CYP7B1 in tissues such as the liver and brain.
15α-Hydroxydehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, abbreviated as 15α-hydroxy-DHEA sulfate or 15α-OH-DHEA-S, also known as 15α-hydroxy-17-oxoandrost-5-en-3β-yl sulfate, is an endogenous, naturally occurring steroid and a metabolic intermediate in the production of estetrol from dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) during pregnancy. It is the C3β sulfate ester of 15α-hydroxy-DHEA.
19-Nordehydroepiandrosterone (19-nor-DHEA), or 19-nor-5-dehydroepiandrosterone (19-nor-5-DHEA), is an estrane (19-norandrostane) steroid which was never marketed. It is the combined derivative of the androgen/anabolic steroid nandrolone (19-nortestosterone) and the androgen prohormone dehydroepiandrosterone. Related compounds include 19-nor-5-androstenediol, bolandiol (19-nor-4-androstenediol), and bolandione (nor-4-androstenedione), which are all known orally active prohormones of nandrolone. 19-Nor-DHEA may occur as a metabolite of bolandione and related steroids.
