Obesity in the dog: role of the adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)

Abstract

It is estimated that 25-50% of pet dogs are overweight. In rodents and humans the adrenal steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been associated with loss of body weight and reduction in total body fat content. We have shown that administration of DHEA results in weight loss in spontaneously obese dogs. DHEA also lowered serum cholesterol, in particular, the low density lipoprotein component of the plasma cholesterol. We hypothesize that treatment of obese dogs with DHEA in combination with a low energy, high fiber diet will result in greater weight loss when compared with dogs on the same diet, without DHEA. In the current study, spontaneously obese dogs were fed a uniform low energy, high fiber diet and then randomized to receive DHEA or placebo. Preliminary results show that the mean total body weight lost for dogs receiving DHEA was 3.59 kg compared with 2.38 kg for dogs receiving placebo (P greater than 0.05). The percent excess body weight (above ideal body weight) lost for the DHEA group was 65.7 versus 31.4 for the placebo group (P less than 0.02). The percent excess body weight lost per month on the study for the DHEA group was 15 versus 8.2 for the placebo group (P = 0.069). Although these results are preliminary, they indicate that DHEA combined with a low energy, high fiber diet enhances the loss of excess body weight compared with diet modification alone.