Depression is a mental disorder that affects millions of people around the world. However, depressive symptoms can be seen in other psychiatric and medical conditions. Here, we investigate the effect of DHEA treatment on depressive symptoms in individuals with depression and/or other clinical conditions in which depressive symptoms are present. An electronic search was performed until October 2019, with no restrictions on language or year of publication in the following databases: Medline, EMBASE, LILACS, and Cochrane Library. Randomized controlled trials comparing DHEA versus placebo were included if the depressive symptoms were assessed. Fifteen studies with 853 female and male individuals were included in this review. To conduct the meta‐analysis, data were extracted from 14 studies. In comparison with placebo, DHEA improved depressive symptoms (standardized mean difference [SMD] −0.28, 95% (CI) −0.45 to −0.11, p =.001, 12 studies, 742 individuals (375 in the experimental group and 367 in the placebo group), I² = 24%), very low quality of evidence, 2 of 14 studies reporting this outcome were removed in a sensitivity analysis as they were strongly influencing heterogeneity between studies. No hormonal changes that indicated any risk to the participants' health were seen. Side effects observed were uncommon, mild, and transient, but commonly related to androgyny. In conclusion, DHEA was associated with a beneficial effect on depressive symptoms compared to placebo. However, these results should be viewed with caution, since the quality of evidence for this outcome was considered very low according to the GRADE criteria.

中文翻译：

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脱氢表雄酮治疗抑郁症状：随机对照试验的系统回顾和荟萃分析。

抑郁症是一种影响全世界数百万人的精神疾病。然而，抑郁症状也可见于其他精神和医疗状况。在这里，我们研究 DHEA 治疗对抑郁症患者和/或存在抑郁症状的其他临床状况的个体的抑郁症状的影响。电子检索进行至 2019 年 10 月，在以下数据库中不限制语言或出版年份：Medline、EMBASE、LILACS 和 Cochrane 图书馆。如果评估抑郁症状，则纳入比较 DHEA 与安慰剂的随机对照试验。本综述纳入了 15 项涉及 853 名女性和男性个体的研究。为了进行荟萃分析，从 14 项研究中提取了数据。与安慰剂相比，DHEA 改善了抑郁症状（标准化平均差 [S​​MD] -0.28，95% (CI) -0.45 至 -0.11，p  = .001，12 项研究，742 人（实验组 375 人，实验组 367 人）安慰剂组），I ²  = 24%），证据质量非常低，报告这一结果的 14 项研究中有 2 项在敏感性分析中被删除，因为它们强烈影响研究之间的异质性。没有发现荷尔蒙变化表明参与者的健康存在任何风险。观察到的副作用不常见、轻微且短暂，但通常与雌雄同体有关。总之，与安慰剂相比，DHEA 对抑郁症状有有益作用。然而，应谨慎看待这些结果，因为根据 GRADE 标准，该结果的证据质量被认为非常低。