Age-related effects of DHEA on peripheral markers of oxidative stress.
Ageing is an inevitable biological process characterized by a general decline in various physiological functions. DHEA and DHEAS levels are maximal between the second and third life decades, then start to decline 2% per year, leaving a residual of 10-20% of the peak production by the eighth decade. Erythrocytes are exposed to frequent oxidative stress due to the oxygen radicals continuously generated by haemoglobin auto-oxidation. We investigated DHEA chronic (10 mg/kg, subcutaneously, for 5 weeks) effects over oxidative stress markers in erythrocytes of male Wistar rats of 3, 13 and 18 month-old. In the 13 month-old group, we found increased lipid peroxidation (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S-transferase and catalase activities when compared to the other age groups. DHEA produced a marked increase in LPO of 13 month-old group when compared to its control. DHEA exerted this pro-oxidant effects in all ages studied, especially in age 13 month-old. It seems that at 13 month-old there would be an important depletion of some specific anti-oxidant in order to determine such susceptibility to DHEA effects. Since this approach allows a minimally invasive assessment, it would be useful as a routine method in human clinical studies investigating DHEA effects during the ageing process.
Jacob
Maria Helena Vianna Metello
MH
Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. mhvmjacob@hotmail.com
da R Janner
Daiane
D
Jahn
Matheus Parmegiani
MP
Kucharski
Luiz Carlos
LC
Belló-Klein
Adriane
A
Ribeiro
Maria Flavia Marques
MF
D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000378:metabolism; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D002374:Catalase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005982:Glutathione Transferase