Dehydroepiandrosterone prevents dexamethasone-induced hypertension in
rats.
Shafagoj
Y, Opoku J, Qureshi D, Regelson W, Kalimi M.
Am J Physiol. 1992 Aug;263(2 Pt 1):E210-3.
Department of Physiology and Medicine, Medical College of Virginia,
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298.
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is an endogenous steroid having a
wide variety of biological and biochemical effects. In the
present study, we have examined the role of DHEA on various
rodent models of experimental hypertension. Sprague-Dawley rats
were given subcutaneous injections of 1.5 mg dexamethasone every
alternate day, resulting in an increase in systolic blood
pressure within 1 wk. Interestingly, administration of a
pharmacological dose of 1.5, 3, or 7.5 mg DHEA along with
dexamethasone prevented dexamethasone-induced hypertension in a
dose-dependent manner. DHEA had no effect on the hypertension
induced by deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt
administration using uninephrectomized rats or on the genetic
model of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Dexamethasone
administration resulted in a significant weight loss in rats,
which was not prevented by simultaneous administration of DHEA.
These results indicate that dexamethasone-mediated weight loss
may involve mechanisms separate from its hypertensive action.
Dexamethasone treatment resulted in a significant decrease in
food consumption that was not reversed by DHEA. It is concluded
that DHEA at doses above physiological levels when given
subcutaneously has no effect on DOCA-salt or a genetic model of
hypertension but has a beneficial effect on dexamethasone-induced
hypertension.
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