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Effect of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on monoamine oxidase activity, lipid peroxidation and lipofuscin accumulation in aging rat brain regions

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An Erratum to this article was published on 03 June 2008

Abstract

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), one of the major steroid hormones, and its ester have recently received attention with regard to aging and age-related diseases like Alzheimer and others. DHEA is synthesized de novo in the brain and its substantial fall with age has been shown to be associated with neuronal vulnerability to neurotoxicity processes. Thus, DHEA is considered to be a neuroactive pharmacological substance with potential antiaging properties. A prominent feature that accompanies aging is an increase in monoamine oxidase (MAO). Increased MAO activity with correlated increase in lipid peroxidation in the aging rat brain supports the hypothesis that catecholamine oxidation is an important source of oxidative stress. The progressive accumulation of lipofuscin in neuronal cells is one of the most characteristic age related changes, an increase in body weight was also observed at 24 months. The objective of this study was to observe the changes in monoamine oxidase activity, lipid peroxidation levels and lipofuscin accumulation occurring in aging rat brain regions, and to see whether these changes are restored to normal levels after exogenous administration of DHEA (30 mg/kg/day for 1 month). The results obtained in the present work revealed that normal aging was associated with significant increases in the activity of monoamine oxidase, lipid peroxidation levels and lipofuscin accumulation in brain regions of 4, 14 and 24 months age group male rats. The present study showed that DHEA treatment significantly decreased monoamine oxidase activity, lipid peroxidation and lipofuscin accumulation in brain regions of aging rats, the increased body weight at 24 months also decreased more than the age matched controls. It can therefore be suggested that DHEA’s beneficial effects seemed to arise from its antioxidant, antiobesity, antilipofuscin, antilipidperoxidative and thereby anti-aging actions. The results of this study will be useful for pharmacological modification of the aging process and development of new drugs for age related disorders.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

CNS:

Central nervous system

DHEA:

Dehydroepiandrosterone

DHEAS:

Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate

DMSO:

Dimethylsulphoxide

GABA:

Gamma-aminobutyric acid

MAO:

Monoamine oxidase

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

NMDA:

N-methyl-d-aspartate

PD:

Parkinson’s disease

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

TBARS:

Thiobarbituric acid reactive substance

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Acknowledgements

The authors Pardeep Kumar, Dr. Asia Taha and Prof. N.Z. Baquer are grateful to the financial support from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in the form of junior and senior research fellowships from Indian Council of Medical Research and emeritus fellowship from University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurobiology Laboratory School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Pardeep Kumar, Asia Taha, Deepak Sharma & Najma Z. Baquer

  2. Cancer and Radiation Biology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Pardeep Kumar & R. K. Kale

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  1. Pardeep Kumar
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  2. Asia Taha
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  3. Deepak Sharma
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Correspondence to Najma Z. Baquer.

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An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10522-008-9148-4

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Kumar, P., Taha, A., Sharma, D. et al. Effect of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on monoamine oxidase activity, lipid peroxidation and lipofuscin accumulation in aging rat brain regions. Biogerontology 9, 235–246 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-008-9133-y

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