SERUM DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE AND CORTISOL MEASUREMENTS IN HUNTINGTONS-CHOREA

Serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), known to antag onize metabolic effects of glucocorticoids in animals, and cortisol (C RT), already shown to be related to cognitive dysfunction in man and a nimals, were measured in 11 drug-free male subjects with definite Hunt ington's chorea (HC) and in 25 age-matched male normal controls. Stati stical difference was found between DHEAS serum levels (p < 0.05), CRT levels (p < 0.05) and the DHEAS/CRT ratio (p < 0.01) of HC subjects a nd nounal individuals. These findings may indicate a dysfunction of th e hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA) and possibly suggest a ro le of DHEAS as an antiglucocorticoid in HC.