No abstract

Objective: To investigate whether long-term treatment with dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in postmenopausal women can modify insulin sensitivity and plasma lipid pro®le. Design and methods: Twenty healthy postmenopausal women with serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) concentrations ,2.5 mmol/l were enrolled and randomly assigned to two different treatment groups: group 1 were treated with micronized DHEA, 25 mg/day at 0800 h for 12 months; group 2 were treated with an identical placebo tablet. At the beginning and at the end of the study, plasma lipid pro®le, glucose tolerance (oral glucose tolerance test) and insulin sensitivity (euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp: M index) were assessed. Results: After 12 months, the group treated with DHEA showed a considerable improvement of insulin sensitivity (M index +29.55%, P 0X01) and lipid pattern (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol +11.61%, P 0X03; low-density lipoprotein cholesterol 211.07%, P 0X04; triglycerides 219.60%, P 0X03), but glucose tolerance did not change. No modi®cations were observed in the placebo group. Conclusions: Long-term treatment with DHEA ameliorates some metabolic parameters that are linked to increased cardiovascular risk and, consequently, this seems to be an interesting therapeutic tool in the management of the postmenopausal syndrome.

No abstract

Aging is associated to a progressive establishing of a chronic inflammatory state linked to a continuous long exposure to antigens. Since IL-15 stimulates the proliferation of memory T cells and the immunosenescence is characterized by accumulation of memory T cells and exhaustion of naive T cells, we analyzed IL-15 levels in sera from 30 ultralongeval subjects with respect to those from young and old adults. IL-15 levels were assayed by immunoenzymatic methods. Ultralongeval subjects displayed significantly higher IL-15 levels with respect to both young and old controls. No statistical difference was found between old and young controls. These findings may explain, at least in part, the characteristic increase of memory cells in immunosenescence and the capacity of the immune system of centenarians to defend itself from infections through immune-inflammatory responses.