The influence of dehydroepiandrosterone on effector functions of neutrophils
Braz. J. Pharm. Sci. (Online); 57 (), 2021
Publication year: 2021
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is a steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal glands, gonads and
brain. It is a precursor to sex hormones and also is known to have immune modulatory activity.
However, little is known about the relationship between DHEA and neutrophils and thus our study
evaluates the influence of DHEA in the effector functions of neutrophils. Human neutrophils were
treated in vitro with DHEA and further infected with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.
The treatment of neutrophils with 0.01 μM of DHEA increased the phagocytosis of Salmonella
independent of TLR4 as the treatment did not modulate the TLR4 expression. Additionally, DHEA
caused a decrease in ROS (reactive oxygen species) production and did not influence the formation
of the neutrophil extracellular trap (NET). Steroid treated neutrophils, infected or stimulated with
LPS (lipopolysaccharide), showed reduced production of IL-8, compared to untreated cells. Also, the
protein levels of p-NFκB were decreased in neutrophils treated with DHEA, and this reduction could
explain the reduced levels of IL-8. These results led us to conclude that the steroid hormone DHEA
has important modulatory functions in neutrophils