Plasma dehydroepiandrosterone in pregnant and nonpregnant women

From 157 plasma samples taken randomly throughout normal pregnancy and from 42 plasma samples of nonpregnant women, total plasma dehydroepiandrosterone was measured by a method using Amberlite XAD-2 column chromatography at 45degreesC, enzyme hydrolysis, radioactive internal standard, thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography after trimethylsilyl ether derivative formation. The following values for dehydroepiandrosterone were obtained: from individual, nonpregnant samples, (n = 25) 69.6 +/- 10.6 mug/100 ml (S.E.M.); from the pool of nonpregnant samples (n = 17) 67.7 mug/100 ml; from individual samples, 6-12 weeks of gestation (n = 32) 48.5 +/- 5.7 mug/100 ml (S.E.M.); from individual samples, 13-18 weeks of gestation (n = 13) 45.9 +/- 7.7 mug/100 ml (S.E.M.); from individual samples, 19-24 weeks of gestation (n = 20) 42.9 +/- 6.9 mug/100 ml (S.E.M.); from individual samples, 25-30 weeks of gestation (n = 22) 41.7 +/- 6.8 mug/100 ml (S.E.M.); from individual samples, 31-36 weeks of gestation (n = 31) 39.5 +/- 6.1 mug/100 ml (S.E.M.); from individual samples, 37-43 weeks of gestation (n = 29) 37.6 +/- 3.6 mug/100 ml (S.E.M.); and from the pool sample, 37-43 weeks of gestation (n = 10) 25.4 mug/100 ml. This study demonstrates a significant decrease of total plasma dehydroepiandrosterone throughout the course of normal pregnancy in individual and pooled plasma samples, thus confirming previous reports. These plasma hormone changes are discussed in relation to production and utilization of this steroid in pregnancy.