Normative Data on Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulphate (DHEAS) and its Attributes in Healthy Indian Children and Adolescents

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), the biochemical indicator of adrenarche and pubarche, is of paramount importance in the evaluation of puberty-related disorders. The reference range of DHEAS should be ethnicity, age, sex, pubarche and Tanner stage specific. Anthropometry, puberty assessment and hormonal parameters were estimated using electrochemiluminescence assay. Bone age was estimated using the BoneXpert software. Of 2191 healthy Indian children aged 5–18 y screened at Chandigarh, 1919 were included in the final analysis (994 boys). The median DHEAS levels at pubarche stage P2 were 82.10 (55.0–129.0) g/dl in girls and 132.50 (95.12–205.50) g/dl in boys. By ROC analysis, the level of DHEAS at pubarche was 63.7 g/dl (sensitivity 72.6%, specificity 64.4%) in girls and 82.2 g/dl (sensitivity 81.8%, specificity 68.8%) in boys. The median age at adrenarche was 9.5 y in both sexes. On multivariate regression analysis; bone age, body mass index (BMI), gonadal steroids, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) significantly correlated with serum DHEAS levels in either sex.