Suppression of adrenal function by low-dose prednisone: assessment with 24-hour urinary steroid hormone profiles—a review of five cases

Alternative Medicine Review, March, 2006 by Patrick N. Friel, Thomas Alexander, Jonathan V. Wright

In conclusion, 24-hour urinary steroid hormone profiling demonstrates that chronic prednisone administration suppresses the production of adrenal steroids, especially the glucocorticoids and DHEA, and that DHEA synthesis is the most severely affected. Although prednisone is capable of replacing the activity of the suppressed glucocorticoids, the loss of DHEA is uncompensated and may have significant adverse consequences in terms of sex hormone production, bone health, endocrine- and immune-system function, and neuropsychiatric status.

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