Shahed University Immunoregulation 2588_5200 3 2 2020 01 01 COVID-19 Patients Suffer From DHEA-S Deficiency 135 144 3033 10.32598/Immunoregulation.3.2.5 EN Mohammad Reza Vaez Mahdavi Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0002-1490-4364 Sussan Kaboudanian Ardestani Instiute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0002-0303-7066 Arezou Rezaei Institute of Biological Sciences, School of Biology, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran. 0000-0001-6486-851X Saeed Mohammadi Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Maryam Rajabnia Chenary Defense Health Research Center, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0003-2268-0652 Behnaz Gharegozlou Department of Immunology, School of Allied Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0001-8423-8937 Mohammad Mehdi Naghizadeh Immunoregulation Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0001-5562-103X Tooba Ghazanfari Immunoregulation Research Center , Shahed University&amp;lt; Tehran, Iran. 0000-0002-1049-7095 Journal Article 2020 01 10 <strong>Background</strong>: The nervous, endocrine, and immune systems contribute to the response and dynamic adaption to various stresses. Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been demonstrated in various active critical illnesses. Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a disease with age and gender disparities. <br /><strong>Materials and Methods</strong>: In this study, a total of 125 consecutive inpatients with COVID-19 admitted to Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex from February 12, 2020, to April 4, 2020, were enrolled. The severity of patients was classified into three subgroups based on the types of oxygen therapies. Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate (DHEA-S) and cortisol levels were measured in serum of inpatients with Siemens kit. <br /><strong>Results</strong>: While the increase in cortisol level was not significant in COVID-19 patients, the DHEA-S level and DHEA-S/cortisol ratio significantly decreased in the patients with the increase in severity of the disease.<br /><strong>Conclusion</strong>: We proposed that the supplementation of DHEA, the precursor of both androgens and steroids, may ameliorate adverse outcomes of COVID-19 disease and improve COVID-19 patients’ ability to survive. https://immunoreg.shahed.ac.ir/article_3033_272e11700558e27be60f7489d2d782e7.pdf