Effect of Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on Hot Flashes in Postmenopausal Women

April 6, 2017 updated by: CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval

Phase II-III Placebo-Controlled, Study to Evaluate the Effects of DHEA on Vasomotor Symptoms (Hot Flashes) in Postmenopausal Women

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of daily oral intake of DHEA 50 mg for 4 months on reducing vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes) compared to placebo administration in postmenopausal women.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Humans, along with the other primates, are unique among animal species in having adrenals that secrete large amounts of the inactive precursor steroids dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and especially its sulfate DHEA-S. The marked reduction in the formation of DHEA-S by the adrenals during aging results in a dramatic fall in the formation of androgens and estrogens in peripheral target tissues, a situation that has been proposed to be associated with age-related diseases including skin atrophy, insulin resistance and obesity. Much attention has been given to the benefits of DHEA administered to postmenopausal women, especially on the bone, skin, vagina and well being after oral as well as percutaneous administration of the precursor steroid.

This study proposes to study the effect of 50 mg oral DHEA capsules during a period of 4 months administered to postmenopausal women experiencing 50 or more moderate to severe hot flushes per week. Participants will be stratified by the number of hot flushes experienced per week. The two strata are: 50-70 or more than 70 hot flushes per week. During the study several biological and clinical parameters will be evaluated, as well as the reduction of the number of hot flashes and improvement of overall quality of life.

Subjects will be evaluated at specific time intervals during the study for the above mentioned parameters as well as tolerability and adverse reactions.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

50

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Quebec
      • Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada, G1V 4G2
        • Clinique des Traitements Hormonaux

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

36 years to 66 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy postmenopausal women with 50 or more moderate to severe hot flushes.
  • Women between 40 to 70 years of age.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Body mass index (BMI) of 35 kg/m2 or more.
  • Significant metabolic and endocrine diseases.
  • Diagnosis of cancer.
  • Use of steroids or drugs that interfere with the metabolism of estrogen.
  • Use of any systemic estrogen, progestin, or DHEA in the eight weeks prior to randomization.
  • Use of alternative therapies or natural products to treat postmenopausal symptoms in the four weeks prior to randomization.
  • Palpable fibroids or uterine prolapse: Grade 2 or 3.
  • Cigarette smoking

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Placebo
Drug: Placebos
Placebo capsule
Experimental: DHEA
Drug: DHEA capsule
One capsule of DHEA

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Use of a diary to monitor the number and intensity of hot flashes as compared to placebo at screening, day 1, weeks 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Evaluation of safety as well as quality of life, psychological general well being, and sexual life by questionnaires at day 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval

Investigators

  • Study Director: Fernand Labrie, MD, PhD, CHUL Research Director

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 1, 2005

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 20, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 20, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

April 24, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 7, 2017

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2017

Last Verified

April 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ERC-205

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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