Low Levels of Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate in Younger Burnout Patients

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 10; no. 10; p. e0140054
• Main Authors: Lennartsson, Anna-Karin, Theorell, Töres, Kushnir, Mark M., Jonsdottir, Ingibjörg H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 06.10.2015; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Age; Age Factors; Alcoholism; Body Mass Index; Burn out (Psychology); Burnout; Dehydroepiandrosterone; Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate; Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate - blood; Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate - metabolism; Development and progression; Female; Females; Genetic aspects; Health promotion; Hormones; Humans; Male; Medicine; Middle Aged; Patients; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Psychological aspects; Psychosomatic medicine; Sex Factors; Social interactions; Stress; Stress, Psychological - blood; Stress, Psychological - metabolism; Studies; Sulfate; Sulfates; Womens health; Young adults; Youth; United States; Sweden
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0140054

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-s) is an anabolic protective hormone of importance for maintenance of health. DHEA-s levels peak in young adults and decline thereafter with age. DHEA-s has previously been shown to be lower in individuals reporting prolonged stress. This study investigates DHEA-s levels in patients with clinical burnout, a disorder caused by long-term psychosocial stress. 122 patients (51% men) and 47 controls (51% men) in the age 25-54 years were included in the study. DHEA-s levels were compared between patients and controls in the whole sample and within each of the three 10-year-interval age groups. In the youngest age group (25-34 years), DHEA-s levels were on average 25% lower in the patients (p = 0.006). The differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls were more pronounced among female than male participants (on average 32% and 13% lower, respectively). There were no differences in DHEA-s levels between patients and controls in the age group 35-44 years (p = 0.927) or 45-54 years (p = 0.897) or when analyzing all age groups together (p = 0.187). The study indicates that levels of the health promoting "youth" hormone DHEA-s are low in younger burnout patients. The fact that younger adults have much higher DHEA-s levels and more pronounced inter-subject variability in DHEA-s levels than older individuals might explain why burnout status differentiates patients from controls only among the youngest patients included in this study.