This is an educational systems-pharmacology simulator of oral, sublingual, and transdermal DHEA for medical education. It solves a 9-compartment ODE model (RK4, Δt = 0.02 h) linking short-lived free DHEA to its long-lived sulfated reservoir (DHEA-S) and downstream androgenic, estrogenic, and neurosteroid effectors, so students can explore organ-wise and pathway-wise pharmacokinetics. It is not for real-patient dosing decisions.
| Parameter | Free DHEA | DHEA-S |
|---|---|---|
| Elimination t½ | 15–30 min | 10–20 h |
| Oral first-pass | ~15–30% reaches systemic circulation | ~70–85% sulfated on first pass |
| Reference serum pool | 2–10 ng/mL | 100–400 µg/dL (molar pool ~300–500× free DHEA) |
Age calibration: endogenous production follows the published lifespan curve (Orentreich et al., NEJM 1984; Labrie et al.): adrenarche ramp in childhood, peak ≈ age 25, then ≈2–3 %/yr decline to ~20 % of peak by age 80 (adrenopause), with female levels ≈75–80 % of male. The age slider (1–100 yr) rescales adrenal output and age-adjusts adipose aromatase (↑ with age) and SULT2A1 (modest ↓ with age).
Signal telemetry layer (v3.1): every anatomical callout card carries a status chip (○ BASAL · ● HOMEOSTASIS · ▲ ACTIVE CASCADE), a mini level-vs-time sparkline with a phase cursor (compare the flat adrenal basal-rate source against pulsatile GI input and the slow reservoir decay), and hover-revealed feedback-loop annotations. The axis bar summarizes Signal Axis (homeostasis vs excitatory/stress tone) and System Equilibrium (proximity of all pools to baseline).
Key teaching concepts: (1) DHEA-S is an albumin-bound circulating prohormone reservoir activated peripherally by tissue steroid sulfatase (STS) — the basis of intracrinology; (2) terminal free-DHEA decay exhibits flip-flop kinetics; (3) hepatic SULT2A1 is saturable; (4) the A4/T metabolic switches determine androgen-vs-estrogen fate and differ by sex; (5) free DHEA is a GABA-A negative allosteric modulator — pharmacologically opposite to allopregnanolone-class neurosteroids.
Limitations: Downstream T / DHT / estrogen / neurosteroid traces are semi-quantitative indices, not absolute clinical concentrations; switch percentages are illustrative tissue-mean splits. Endogenous gonadal steroid production and HPG-axis feedback are not modeled. Enzyme activities are population means; pharmacogenetic variants alter responses. Neuropsychiatric gauges are qualitative Hill functions, not validated exposure–response models.
Sulfation is Michaelis–Menten (saturable); all other steps first-order. \(f_p\) = route-, SULT2A1-, and age-dependent first-pass fraction. \(D\)=DHEA, \(DS\)=DHEA-S, \(U\)=urinary pool, \(N\)=7-hydroxy-DHEA.