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Relationships between age, dehydro-epiandrosterone sulphate and plasma glucose in healthy men
N Thomas1, H A Morris, F Scopacasa
1Division of Clinical Biochemistry, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Background:
dehydro-epiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) has been reported to ameliorate diabetes mellitus in rats.
Aim:
we investigated the relationships between plasma glucose, age, serum DHEAS and weight in healthy men.
Methods:
we measured the serum DHEAS, fasting plasma glucose, plasma cortisol and body mass index in 169 subjects (mean age 46.5 years).
Results:
there was a significant decline in serum DHEAS with age (P < 0.0001). Multiple linear regression showed significant relationships with plasma glucose for all measured variables. Age was not a significant determinant of plasma glucose after adjusting for log serum DHEAS, body mass index and log serum cortisol.
Conclusions:
a lowered serum DHEAS is paralleled by an elevated plasma glucose within the normal reference interval, and this may contribute to the rise in fasting plasma glucose which occurs with ageing.