Decreased levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate in severe critical illness: a sign of exhausted adrenal reserve?

Table 1 Clinical and laboratory data on admission in patients with septic shock or multiple trauma, and age- and sex-matched control patients

Parameter	Septic shock	Multiple trauma	Control patients
n	30	8	40
Mean age (years)	62 ± 11	52 ± 15	56 ± 14
Sex (male/female)	20/10	7/1	28/12
APACHE II score	16.2 ± 5.3^**††	10.1 ± 2.9^**	3.2 ± 2.7
SOFA score	8.2 ± 3.2^**††	4.2 ± 2.2^**	1.9 ± 1.5
Survival (n)	19	8	40
DHEAS (μmol/l) 1.2 ± 0.8^**†		2.4 ± 0.5^*	4.2 ± 1.8
Cortisol (μmol/l) 1.09 ± 0.23^**		1.03 ± 0.19^**	0.32 ± 0.08
ACTH (pmol/l)	115.1 ± 29.2^**	109.4 ± 36.2^**	11.2 ± 4.5
IL-6 (pmol/l)	1301 ± 377^**††	555 ± 256^**	10.2 ± 4.8
TNF-α (pmol/l)	26.3 ± 9.6^**††	9.4 ± 2.1^*	4.2 ± 2.2

Values are means ± SD. ACTH, adrenocorticotrophic hormone; APACHE, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; DHEAS, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate; SOFA, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment; TNF, tumour necrosis factor. ^*P < 0.05 versus control; ^**P < 0.01 versus control; ^†P < 0.05 versus multiple trauma; ^††P < 0.01 versus multiple trauma.

ISSN: 1364-8535