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.
Reproductive Ecology Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 51 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT 06520-8277, USA. michael.m@snet.net
Michael P
MP
Muehlenbein
Benjamin C
BC
Campbell
Robert J
RJ
Richards
Frank
F
Svec
Kathrine M
KM
Phillippi-Falkenstein
Mark A
MA
Murchison
Leann
L
Myers
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