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THURSDAY, Sept. 9 (HealthDayNews) -- The drug prasterone is a safe
and effective treatment for lupus, says a study in the September
issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.
Prasterone is the pharmaceutical form of DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone),
a natural steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands of both
women and men.
Lupus is a serous immune system disease that causes symptoms such
as fatigue, rash and arthritis. Women are nine times more likely
than men to have lupus. Researchers have found women with lupus
have abnormalities in the metabolism of two hormones -- androgen
and estrogen.
This year-long, multi-center trial included 381 women with active
lupus. About half received 200 milligrams of prasterone a day while
the other group received the same daily dose of a placebo. Women
in both groups were allowed to continue their course of standard
lupus medications.
The study found that 59 percent of the women in the prasterone
group showed improvement or stabilization of lupus symptoms, compared
with 45 percent of those in the placebo group.
"The high response rate in the placebo treatment group should
be interpreted in the context that this was not a true placebo-controlled
trial, since most patients were treated with standard (lupus) therapies
during the study. Thus, the statistically significant improvement
in the prasterone group is statistically and clinically meaningful,"
study director Dr. Michelle A. Petri, of Johns Hopkins University,
said in a prepared statement.
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