Plasma Dehydroepiandrosterone Levels in HIV Infection

To the Editor.—  Death from all causes has been correlated with decreased levels of plasma dehydroepiandrosterone.¹ The large number of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and its poor prognosis,² have prompted us to investigate whether there is a correlation between infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and plasma dehydroepiandrosterone levels.Three additional avenues of investigation have suggested to us that dehydroepiandrosterone may be influenced by infections with HIV. First, plasma levels of dehydroepiandrosterone are age dependent, with low levels in childhood and in older adults,³ the ages that have the poorest prognosis for patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.² Second, there are many disease correlations with plasma dehydroepiandrosterone: in humans, low plasma dehydroepiandrosterone levels have been recorded in women with breast tumors^4,5; in rodents, a diet supplemented with dehydroepiandrosterone protects against breast tumors,⁶ diabetes,⁷ obesity,⁷ autoimmune nephritis,⁸ and viral infections and chemically