Abstract
PS is an adrenal steroid secreted in large amount as does dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHAS). The aim of this work was to document if PS shows a different pattern with age as does DHAS and if their chronological changes are parallel. PS was measured in 300 normal subjects ; results are given in μg/d1 ± SD. No sex difference was seen at any age. At birth cord levels (108 ± 50) and peripheral levels (87 ± 41), significantly different from each other, were the highest observed in life. PS decreased slowly then more rapidly from 1-6 months (25.8 ± 1.6) to 6-12 months (4 ± 2.7) respectively. Low levels (1.6 ± 0.9) seen at 1 to 9 yrs did not change until age 10, when PS increased progressively, but only 5 fold, until adulthood (7.8 ± 3.4). Thus 1) levels of PS are 10 to 14 higher in newborns than in adults while those of DHAS are similar ; 2) PS decreases less rapidly than DHAS during infancy. 3) PS does not rise abruptly as does DHAS at age 7 ; we conclude that PS is not involved in the secretory changes characteristic of the adrenarche.
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de Peretti, E., Forest, M. Further studies on the developmental changes in adrenal secretion: pattern of the plasma levels of pregnenolone sulfate (PS). Pediatr Res 12, 1093 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197811000-00073
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197811000-00073
