THE RELATIONSHIP OF DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE-SULFATE (DHEAS) TO ENDOCRINE-METABOLIC PARAMETERS AND FUNCTIONAL STATUS IN THE OLDEST-OLD - RESULTS FROM AN ITALIAN STUDY ON HEALTHY FREE-LIVING OVER-90-YEAR-OLDS

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), the major circulating adrenal hormone, has been suggested to have a role in many aging related disea ses and perhaps in aging itself. Its precise biologic effects are stil l unknown, and data on healthy people over 90 yr of age are not availa ble. We measured serum DHEAS levels in 75 healthy subjects aged 90-106 yr of both sexes and searched for correlations between DHEAS and seve ral endocrine-metabolic parameters (serum thyroid hormones, GH-insulin -like-growth factor I (GH-IGF-I) axis, serum lipid profile, anthropome tric indices of body composition) of the same subjects. The resulting data, normalized by logarithmic transformation (geometric mean at age 90-99, 551 ng/mL in men, 364 ng/mL in women; at age > 100 yr, 404 ng/m L in men, 521 ng/mL in women) resulted five-fold lower than DHEAS leve ls measured in a young control group (geometric mean at < 40 yr of age , 3110 ng/mL in men, 2824 ng/mL in women). In women over ninety yr, DH EAS was positively correlated with serum free triodothyronine (FT3) le vels (r = 0.34, P = 0.05) and inversely with triglycerides (r = -0.45, P = 0.05). In men over 90 yr, DHEAS had positive correlations with bo dy mass index (r = 0.41, P < 0.03) and waist-to-hip ratio (r = 0.47, P < 0.01) taken as indices of body's energy reserves (fat). To determin e whether low serum DHEAS levels predict poor functional status in the very old, the Activity Daily Living (ADL) test was administered in al l over-ninety subjects. Men with the highest functioning levels had th e highest DHEAS levels (P < 0.03). Our data suggest that DHEAS levels may influence and/or be influenced by several endocrine and metabolic features of oldest-old people, depending on the sexual steroid milieu. DHEAS seems also to have a strong interrelation with functional activ ities. A favorable role for DHEAS in successful aging is proposed.