Assessment of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) suppression following the 1 mg overnight dexamethasone suppression test in women with hirsutism and elevated DHEA-S

ABSTRACT Objective: The utility of the 1-mg overnight dexamethasone suppression test (DST) for assessing dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) suppressibility is not well defined. Hence, this study aimed to assess DHEA-S response and identify predictors of non-suppression in hirsute women with elevated DHEA-S levels. Subjects and methods: This retrospective study included 362 hirsute women with elevated DHEA-S. Suppression was defined as a post-DST DHEA-S level normalized to the age-specific upper limit of normal (ULN) or a decrease of 50% from baseline. Patients were classified as suppressed (Group 1) or non-suppressed (Group 2). Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis were used to identify predictors of suppression, including the “percent excess” (% excess) above the ULN.