Dehydroepiandrosterone selectively inhibits production of tumor necrosis factor α and interlukin-6 in astrocytes

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a native neurosteroid with immunomodulating activity. DHEA effectively protects animals from several viral, bacterial and parasitic infections and it was suggested that its age-associated decline is related with immunosenescence. In the present study we examined the ability of DHEA to inhibit the production of inflammatory mediators by mycoplasma-stimulated glial cells and to change the course of acute central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory disease bl vivo. Addition of DHEA (10 mu g/ml) markedly inhibited tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and interlukin-6 (IL-6) production (98 and 95%, respectively), whereas nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)) production was not affected. However, daily administration of 0.5 mg DHEA to mice or 5 mg to rats did not change the clinical outcome of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). (C) 1999 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.