DHEA Replacement Does Not Improve Insulin Secretion in the Elderly

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation does not improve insulin secretion, insulin action, or postprandial glucose turnover in the elderly. Senior investigator Dr. Robert A. Rizza, states that, "While it is clear that both DHEA and glucose tolerance decrease with age, the former does not appear to cause the latter."  "Treatment of elderly subjects with DHEA in amounts sufficient to restore their concentrations present in young healthy subjects does not improve glucose tolerance."

Dr. Rizza, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues note that in a previous study, they found that DHEA replacement had no beneficial effects on quality of life, body composition, or physical performance in such patients.

To investigate a possible influence on insulin action, the researchers randomized 112 elderly men and women with relative DHEA deficiency to receive DHEA or placebo for a period of 2 years.

Despite restoring DHEA sulfate concentrations to values observed in young men and women, the investigators observe that "the changes over time in fasting and postprandial glucose concentrations, meal appearance, glucose disposal, and endogenous glucose production were identical to those observed after 2 years of placebo."

"These data strongly argue against a role of DHEA deficiency in the pathogenesis of age-related deterioration in glucose tolerance," they conclude. "They also provide further evidence that DHEA has little or no value as an anti-aging drug in elderly subjects and therefore should not be used for this purpose."

Diabetes Care 2007;56:753-766.

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