{{Short description|Decline in secretion and levels of adrenal androgens}} {{Distinguish|Andropause}} thumb|right|450px|class=skin-invert-image|Levels of DHEA-S, a major adrenal androgen, throughout life in humans.<ref name="Sperling2014" />

'''Adrenopause''' is the decline in secretion and levels of adrenal androgens such as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) from the zona reticularis of the adrenal glands with age.<ref name="JamesonGroot2015">{{cite book|author1=J. Larry Jameson|author2=Leslie J. De Groot|title=Endocrinology: Adult and Pediatric E-Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmLeBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1838|date=25 February 2015|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-0-323-32195-2|pages=1838–}}</ref><ref name="pmid28721131">{{cite journal | vauthors = Papierska L | title = Adrenopause - does it really exist? | journal = Prz Menopauzalny | volume = 16 | issue = 2 | pages = 57–60 | date = June 2017 | pmid = 28721131 | pmc = 5509973 | doi = 10.5114/pm.2017.68593 }}</ref> Levels of adrenal androgens start to increase around age 7 or 8&nbsp;years (adrenarche), peak in early adulthood around age 20 to 25&nbsp;years, and decrease at a rate of approximately 2% per year thereafter, eventually reaching levels of 10 to 20% of those of young adults by age 80&nbsp;years.<ref name="JamesonGroot2015" /><ref name="Sperling2014">{{cite book|author=Mark A. Sperling|title=Pediatric Endocrinology E-Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GgXnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA485|date=10 April 2014|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-1-4557-5973-6|pages=485–}}</ref> It is caused by the progressive apoptosis of adrenal androgen-secreting cells and hence involution of the zona reticularis.<ref name="JamesonGroot2015" /><ref name="pmid28721131" /> It is analogous to andropause in men and menopause in women, the abrupt or gradual decline in production of sex hormones from the gonads with age.<ref name="MelmedPolonsky2015">{{cite book|author1=Shlomo Melmed|author2=Kenneth S. Polonsky|author3=P. Reed Larsen|author4=Henry M. Kronenberg|title=Williams Textbook of Endocrinology E-Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPIACwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1237|date=11 November 2015|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-0-323-34157-8|pages=1237–}}</ref>

DHEA can be supplemented or taken as a medication in the form of prasterone to replace adrenal androgens later in life if it is desired.<ref name="JamesonGroot2015" /> Some clinical studies have found benefits of DHEA supplementation in the elderly and people with adrenal insufficiency.<ref name="JamesonGroot2015" />

==See also== * Adrenal androgen-stimulating hormone

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Reproductive physiology}}

Category:Developmental stages Category:Endocrine system

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