'Antiaging' Hormone Helps Women With Lupus

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'Antiaging' Hormone Helps Women With Lupus

Drug Helps Manage Symptoms With Mild Side Effects

By Kelli

WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD

on Thursday, September 09, 2004

Sept. 9, 2004 -- A new study shows that people with lupus may benefit from

treatment with DHEA, the touted antiaging hormone.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease where

the immune system mistakenly attacks various parts of the body, causing

serious inflammation and pain of the joints and injury to organs. Lupus,

diagnosed in more than 16,000 Americans yearly, can be life threatening.

There is no cure for lupus and, to date, there have been few options for

treating the most painful flare-ups.

Now new research out of s Hopkins University shows that women with mild

to moderate forms of this painful disease may benefit from a new type of

steroid therapy. Women are nine times more likely than men to have lupus.

Prasterone Stabilized Symptoms

In a multicenter study, researcher A. Petri, MD, MPH, and

colleagues found that the drug prasterone safely and effectively improved or

stabilized symptoms in women with lupus flare-ups.

The steroid called prasterone is a version of the natural steroid hormone

dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), which is produced in the adrenal glands.

Prior studies have shown a deficiency of DHEA in people with lupus and

studies have also shown that this hormone has a role in reducing

inflammation.

The most commonly prescribed steroid treatment for lupus is prednisone,

which helps decrease inflammation and suppresses the activity of an overly

active immune system found in lupus patients.

For the study, 380 women with lupus who had active inflammation received

either 200 milligrams per day of prasterone or placebo for one year (both

groups also received prednisone treatment). The researchers monitored the

drug's effectiveness by reviewing disease activity, organ damage, and the

patient's overall quality of life.

More than half (59%) of those who received prasterone responded to treatment

with symptom improvement or stabilization of their disease without

deterioration, compared with 46% in the placebo group.

In an analysis that included women not receiving standard lupus therapy

(prednisone) at the start of the study, 70% of those receiving prasterone

responded, compared with 43% of those who were taking a placebo only.

" Prasterone could bring benefits to patients who cannot or do not wish to

take additional therapies of immunosuppressive agents or large doses of

glucocorticoids, " the researchers said in the journal report.

The most commonly reported side effects were acne and hair growth.

The findings are published in the September 2004 issue of Arthritis &

Rheumatism.