Editing Dehydroepiandrosterone (section)

==Biological function==

===As an androgen===
DHEA and other adrenal androgens such as [[androstenedione]], although relatively weak androgens, are responsible for the androgenic effects of [[adrenarche]], such as early [[pubic hair|pubic]] and [[axillary hair]] growth, adult-type [[body odor]], increased oiliness of hair and skin, and mild [[acne]].<ref name="PescovitzEugster2004">{{cite book| first1 = Ora Hirsch | last1 = Pescovitz | first2  =Erica A. | last2 = Eugster | name-list-style = vanc | title=Pediatric Endocrinology: Mechanisms, Manifestations, and Management|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9gvBlktAT6YC&pg=PA362|year=2004|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|isbn=978-0-7817-4059-3|pages=362–}}</ref><ref name="Lifshitz2006">{{cite book|author=Fima Lifshitz|title=Pediatric Endocrinology: Growth, Adrenal, Sexual, Thyroid, Calcium, and Fluid Balance Disorders|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CTNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA289|date=26 December 2006|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4200-4272-6|pages=289–}}</ref><ref name="Salhan2011">{{cite book | first = Sudha | last = Salhan | name-list-style = vanc |title=Textbook of Gynecology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YUYx1neUEIoC&pg=PA94|date=1 August 2011|publisher=JP Medical Ltd|isbn=978-93-5025-369-4|pages=94–}}</ref> DHEA is potentiated locally via conversion into [[testosterone]] and [[dihydrotestosterone]] (DHT) in the skin and [[hair follicle]]s.<ref name="pmid16293766" /> Women with [[complete androgen insensitivity syndrome]] (CAIS), who have a non-functional [[androgen receptor]] (AR) and are immune to the androgenic effects of DHEA and other androgens, have absent or only sparse/scanty pubic and axillary hair and [[body hair]] in general, demonstrating the role of DHEA and other androgens in body hair development at both adrenarche and [[pubarche]].<ref name="LaverySanfilippo2012">{{cite book | vauthors = Lavery JP, Sanfilippo JS |title=Pediatric and Adolescent Obstetrics and Gynecology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9XTBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4612-5064-7|pages=45–}}</ref><ref name="NussbaumMcInnes2015">{{cite book | first1 = Robert L. | last1 = Nussbaum | first2 = Roderick R. | last2 = McInnes  | first3 = Huntington F | last3 = Willard | name-list-style = vanc |title=Thompson & Thompson Genetics in Medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4yV1CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA102|date=28 April 2015|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-0-323-39206-8|pages=102–}}</ref><ref name="SetchellHudson2013">{{cite book | first1 = Marcus E | last1 = Setchell | first2 = C. N. | last2 = Hudson | name-list-style = vanc |title=Shaw's Textbook of Operative Gynaecology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XHcWNRVHWsEC&pg=PA129|date=4 April 2013|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-81-312-3481-5|pages=129–}}</ref><ref name="BissonnetteDalens2006">{{cite book | first1 = Bruno | last1 = Bissonnette | first2 = Bernard | last2 = Dalens | name-list-style = vanc | title=Syndromes: Rapid Recognition and Perioperative Implications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRR1MYa-w5wC|date=20 July 2006|publisher=McGraw Hill Professional|isbn=978-0-07-135455-4|page=184}}</ref>

===As an estrogen===
DHEA is a weak [[estrogen]].<ref name="pmid16293766" /><ref name="pmid16684650" /><ref name="pmid15994348" /> In addition, it is transformed into potent estrogens such as [[estradiol]] in certain tissues such as the [[vagina]], and thereby produces estrogenic effects in such tissues.<ref name="pmid16293766" />

===As a neurosteroid===
As a [[neurosteroid]] and [[neurotrophin]], DHEA has important effects in the [[central nervous system]].<ref name="Weizman2008" /><ref name="GravanisMellon2011">{{cite book | first1 = Achille G. | last1 = Gravanis | first2  =Synthia H. | last2 = Mellon | name-list-style = vanc |title=Hormones in Neurodegeneration, Neuroprotection, and Neurogenesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmQAhOeaFtUC&pg=PT349|date=24 June 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-3-527-63397-5|pages=349–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Sex difference in the human brain, their underpinnings and implications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JFpq6hYQRhQC&pg=PA127|date=3 December 2010|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-444-53631-0|pages=127–}}</ref>