Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate does not prevent spontaneous and iodine-induced lymphocytic thyroiditis and diabetes mellitus in the BB/Wor rat
Authors
Alex, SharonBraverman, Lewis E.
Fang, Shih-Lieh
Norvell, Beth
Robinson, Sonya
Franz, Charlene
Longcope, Christopher
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Medicine, Division of EndocrinologyDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
1998-07-25Keywords
Analysis of VarianceAnimals
Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental
control
Female
Iodine
Male
Rats
Rats, Inbred Strains
Thyroid Hormones
Thyroiditis, Autoimmune
Life Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Chronic feeding of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfated metabolite, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), has previously been reported to decrease hyperglycemia, obesity, cancer, and autoantibody generation in a number of animal models and to increase muscle mass and physiological and psychological well-being in elderly humans, although these latter studies remain controversial. The present study was carried out to determine whether large amounts of DHEAS given orally would prevent the occurrence of spontaneous and iodine-induced autoimmune lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) and/or spontaneous insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (DM) in male and female BB/Wor rats. DHEAS was administered by gavage (44 mg/rat/day) or in the chow (133 mg/rat/day) to LT- and DM-prone rats from 30 to 120 days of life; some of these rats also received iodine in the drinking water to enhance the incidence and intensity of LT. Onset of DM requiring protamine zinc insulin and its maintenance dose were assessed. Rats were killed at 90 or 120 days of age and blood, thyroid, adrenals, pancreases, testes, and ovaries were removed. Serum glucose, DHEA, DHEAS, thyroxine (T4), tri-iodothyronine (T3) and thyrotropin (TSH) concentrations were measured in all rats in both experiments. Serum DHEAS concentrations were 10-fold higher in the rats given the steroid by gavage or in the diet compared with levels in control rats. DHEAS administered over a prolonged period of time had no significant effect on body weight, incidence and severity of DM, incidence and intensity of spontaneous and iodine-induced LT, and thyroid, pancreas and testes weights but did significantly decrease adrenal and ovarian weights. Serum T4, T3, and TSH concentrations were similar in control and DHEAS-treated rats. In conclusion, DHEAS did not prevent the occurrence of iodine-induced or spontaneous autoimmune LT or spontaneous DM in the BB/Wor rat, at variance with its reported immunosuppressive effects in other animal models.Source
Eur J Endocrinol. 1998 Jun;138(6):719-23.
DOI
10.1530/eje.0.1380719Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/42185PubMed ID
9678543Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1530/eje.0.1380719