Relationships between age, dehydro-epiandrosterone sulphate and plasma glucose in healthy men.

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.