Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in postmenopausal women: lack of influence of parity.

Serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHAS) were analyzed in 251 healthy, medicine-free postmenopausal women 46-65 years of age. Twentyfour of the women were nulliparous and 227 parous (1- to 7-parous). There was no association, whatsoever, between parity and DHAS levels. The data are at variance with previous findings in menstruating women of higher DHAS levels in nulliparous than in parous women. This difference between menstruating and postmenopausal women may reflect an influence of age per se on DHAS metabolism. It may also reflect the exclusion in this study of women with i.e. endometrial hyperplasia/cancer, diseases often associated with elevated DHAS levels and increased risk for nulliparous women.