title: Increased total scavenger capacity and decreased liver fat content in rats fed dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulphate on a high-fat diet.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Weak androgens have an antioxidant effect in vitro which is represented as a beneficial change in the antioxidant status.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to clarify whether dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate (DHEAS) oral administration results in beneficial antioxidant changes in Sprague-Dawley adult male rats in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  Groups of experimental animals were fed a high-fat or a normal-fat diet and treated with DHEA or DHEAS in the drinking fluid. The control group was fed a high-fat diet together with untreated drinking fluid. Total scavenger capacity (TSC) was measured before and after 4 weeks of treatment in blood samples using a chemiluminometric assay. Fat content, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity in the liver were determined by Sudan staining and spectrophotometric assessments, respectively, from the fresh frozen tissue.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DHEA and the DHEAS treatment showed significantly increased TSC in the groups fed a high-fat diet. The control group and the DHEA- or DHEAS-treated groups on normal diets showed no significant changes in TSC. The total score of liver fat content in the high-fat diet groups showed a marked positivity with Sudan staining, and the groups treated with DHEA or DHEAS had a markedly decreased amount of fat in the liver slides compared to the untreated group on the high-fat diet. Liver SOD activity was decreased in all high-fat diet groups and elevated only in the groups on a normal diet with DHEA or DHEAS treatment. Liver catalase and GST activities were decreased in the groups where TSC was significantly increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support the hypothesis that DHEA and DHEAS supplementation can improve the antioxidant status in lipid-rich dietary habits.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Magyar
authors.forename: Gabor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bekesi
authors.forename: Karoly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Racz
authors.forename: Janos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feher
authors.forename: Zsuzsa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Schaff
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lengyel
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blazovics
authors.forename: Gyorgy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Illyes
authors.forename: Dezso
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Szombath
authors.forename: Andras
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hrabak
authors.forename: Bela
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Szekacs
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gergics
authors.forename: Istvan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Marczell
authors.forename: Elek
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dinya
authors.forename: Janos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rigo
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tulassay
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D002374:Catalase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000494:pharmacology; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012016:Reference Values; D013053:Spectrophotometry; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D004041:Dietary Fats; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D002374:Catalase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D005982:Glutathione Transferase