DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE-SULFATE - A BIOMARKER OF PRIMATE AGING SLOWED BY CALORIE RESTRICTION

The adrenal steroids, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate (D HEAS), have attracted attention for their possible antiaging effects. DHEAS levels in humans decline markedly with age, suggesting the poten tial importance of this parameter as a biomarker of aging. Here we rep ort that, as seen in humans, male and female rhesus monkeys exhibit a steady, age-related decline in serum DHEAS. This decline meets several criteria for a biomarker of aging, including cross-sectional and long itudinal linear decreases with age and significant stability of indivi dual differences over time. In addition, the proportional age-related loss of DHEAS in rhesus monkeys is over twice the rate of decline obse rved in humans. Most important is the finding that, in rhesus monkeys, calorie restriction, which extends life span and retards aging in lab oratory rodents, slows the postmaturational decline in serum DHEAS lev els. This represents the first evidence that this nutritional interven tion has the potential to alter aspects of postmaturational aging in a long-lived species.