Ex vivo studies on the acute and chronic effects of DHEA and DHEA-sulfate on melatonin synthesis in young- and old-rat pineal glands

Steroids
Y Djeridane, Y Touitou

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of acute and chronic injections of the neurosteroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate DHEA-S on pineal gland melatonin synthesis. Pineal melatonin production and plasma melatonin levels were investigated in young (9-week-old) and old (27-month-old) male Wistar rats. DHEA or DHEA-S have been administered acutely in a single intraperitoneal injection at a dosage of 50, 250, or 500 microg per animal, or on a long-term basis, i.e., for 8 days at a dosage of 100 microg per animal, 1 h before the onset of darkness. DHEA, at a dose of 50, 250, or 500 microg per animal, administered acutely to rats had no significant effects on pineal melatonin production whatever the age of the animals. In contrast, 500 microg DHEA-S induced a significant increase in the pineal melatonin content (15% in young animals and 35% in old animals) and the activity of N-acetyltransferase, the rate-limiting enzyme for melatonin synthesis in the pineal gland, (40% in young animals and 20% in old animals), without altering the activity of hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase whatever the age of the animals. At lower concentrations (50 or 250 microg) DHEA-S had no effect on pineal melatonin production regardless of the...Continue Reading

References

Dec 1, 1978·Endocrinology·G B CutlerD L Loriaux
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Dec 29, 1995·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·L MilewichM Bennett
May 16, 1998·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·E E Baulieu, P Robel
Oct 14, 1998·Progress in Neurobiology·R J Reiter
Jun 19, 2001·Experimental Gerontology·Y Touitou

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Citations

Jun 28, 2005·Journal of Pineal Research·Tiecheng Liu, Jimo Borjigin

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