Dominick L. Auci

Metabolic syndrome is marked by perturbed glucocorticoid (GC) signaling, systemic inflammation, and altered immune status. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), a major circulating adrenal steroid and dietary supplement, demonstrates antiobesity, anti‐inflammatory, GC‐opposing and immune‐modulating activity when administered to rodents. However, plasma DHEA levels failed to correlate with metabolic syndrome and oral replacement therapy provided only mild benefits to patients. Androstene‐3β,7β,17β‐triol (β‐AET) an anti‐inflammatory metabolite of DHEA, also exhibits GC‐opposing and immune‐modulating activity when administered to rodents. We hypothesized a role for β‐AET in obesity. We now report that plasma levels of β‐AET positively correlate with BMI in healthy men and women. Together with previous studies, the observations reported here may suggest a compensatory role for β‐AET in preventing the development of metabolic syndrome. The β‐AET structural core may provide the basis for novel pharmaceuticals to treat this disease.

Background: 17α-Ethynyl-5-androsten-3β, 7β, 17β-triol (HE3286) is a synthetic derivative of an endogenous steroid androstenetriol (β-AET), a metabolite of the abundant adrenal steroid deyhdroepiandrosterone (DHEA), with broad anti-inflammatory activities. We tested the ability of this novel synthetic steroid with improved pharmacological properties to limit non-productive lung inflammation in rodents and attempted to gauge its immunological impact.Methods and Results: In mice, oral treatment with HE3286 (40 mg/kg) significantly (p< 0.05) decreased neutrophil counts and exudate volumes (~50%) in carrageenan-induced pleurisy, and myeloperoxidase in lipopolysaccharide-induced lung injury. HE3286 (40 mg/kg) was not found to be profoundly immune suppressive in any of the classical animal models of immune function, including those used to evaluate antigen specific immune responsesin vivo(ovalbumin immunization). When mice treated for two weeks with HE3286 were challenged withK. pneumoniae, nearly identical survival kinetics were observed in vehicle-treated, HE3286-treated and untreated groups.Conclusions: HE3286 represents a novel, first-in-class anti-inflammatory agent that may translate certain benefits of β-AET observed in rodents into treatments for chronic inflammatory pulmonary disease.

5-androstene-3β,7β,17β-triol (β-AET), an active metabolite of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), reversed glucocorticoid (GC)-induced suppression of IL-6, IL-8 and osteoprotegerin production by human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells and promoted osteoblast differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In a murine thermal injury model that includes glucocorticoid-induced osteopenia, β-AET significantly (p<0.05) preserved bone mineral content, restored whole body bone mineral content and endochondral growth, suggesting reversal of GC-mediated decreases in chondrocyte proliferation, maturation and osteogenesis in the growth plate. In men and women, levels of β-AET decline with age, consistent with a role for β-AET relevant to diseases associated with aging. β-AET, related compounds or synthetic derivatives may be part of effective therapeutic strategies to accelerate tissue regeneration and prevent or treat diseases associated with aging such as osteoporosis.