Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 23, 2026
Intravenous Endotoxin Challenge in Healthy Humans: An Experimental Platform to Investigate and Modulate Systemic Inflammation
Published on: May 16, 2016
Plasma dehydroepiandrosterone levels during experimental endotoxemia and anti-inflammatory therapy in humans
S R Bornstein1, G W Wolkersdörfer, R Tauchnitz
1Pediatric and Reproductive Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. bornstes@mail.nih.gov
Objective:
To measure the effect of experimental endotoxemia and anti-inflammatory therapy on plasma dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels in humans.
Design:
Controlled, randomized, single-blind, prospective clinical study.
Setting:
Monitored unit in research hospital.
Subjects:
Twelve healthy volunteers served as their own controls and were randomized to receive intravenous endotoxin (Escherichia coli) or saline separated by 1 wk. Six were randomized to receive ibuprofen, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, and six were given placebo.
Interventions:
Measurement of vital signs and hormones during a 24-hr period.
Measurements And Main Results:
All subjects given endotoxin had a significant increase in plasma DHEA, cortisol, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels (all p = .02). DHEA levels were maximum at 2 hrs and returned to baseline values by 6 hrs. Ibuprofen administration significantly blunted the endotoxin-induced increase in DHEA secretion (p = .001), whereas the increase in cortisol and ACTH was not affected.
Conclusions:
Acute endotoxemia leads to a rise in plasma DHEA levels in humans. Maximum levels of DHEA but not cortisol or ACTH were blunted by ibuprofen, suggesting a different regulation of these synthetic pathways in the adrenal cortex inner zone during acute inflammation.
