Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate as a biomarker of senescence in male non-human primates.
Numerous studies have suggested important and varying roles for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) in primate physiological functions. Despite these numerous claims, specific actions and significance of DHEA and DHEA-S are still equivocal. A decline of these hormones in adult humans may have functional significance, yet there is no clear relationship between functional impairments of aging and the decline in DHEA or DHEA-S levels. This current study attempts to address the natural history of adrenal hormones by presenting non-human primate evidence of the endocrinology of aging; the age-related patterns of adrenal hormone decline in three species of the subfamily Cercopithecinae, Macaca mulatta, Macaca nemestrina, and Papio cynocephalus are compared. It is concluded that DHEA-S and cortisol represent lineage specific markers of senescence among primates and that parallel age-related patterns of DHEA-S and cortisol likely reflect lineage specific effects, or rather, phylogenetic similarities of endocrine senescence. The use of relative adrenal hormone levels to approximate species' life expectancies is discussed.
Muehlenbein
Michael P
MP
Reproductive Ecology Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 51 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT 06520-8277, USA. michael.m@snet.net
Campbell
Benjamin C
BC
Richards
Robert J
RJ
Svec
Frank
F
Phillippi-Falkenstein
Kathrine M
KM
Murchison
Mark A
MA
Myers
Leann
L
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000097:blood; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000502:physiology; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood*; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood*; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology; D008254:Macaca nemestrina / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D010215:Papio / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology; D011323:Primates / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D015415:Biomarkers; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate