Inhibition of Proteinuria Development in Aging Sprague-Dawley Rats and C57BL/6 Mice by Long-Term Treatment with Dehydroepiandrosterone

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Abstract
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is an adrenal steroid that previously has been shown to produce antiobesity, antidiabetic, cancer preventive, and antiautoimmune effects in laboratory rodents. DHEA, when administered in the diet to male Sprague-Dawley rats beginning at 2 months of age, inhibited the development of proteinuria at 19 months. The nontreated rats excreted 6.5 times as much urinary protein as the group treated with DHEA. Part of the effect of DHEA is apparently a result of reduced food intake in the treated rats (14% reduction), but this alone could not account for its action as a pair-fed group excreted significantly more urinary protein than the DHEA treated rats (2.3 times as much). A similar inhibition of proteinuria in 17-month-old male C57BL/6 mice was produced by DHEA treatment initiated at 10 months of age (5.8 times as much urinary protein excreted by non-DHEA treated mice). DHEA treatment reduced food intake by 11% in the C57BL/6 mice. This reduction in food intake had no apparent effect on proteinuria since a pair-fed group was found to excrete 6.5 times the amount of urinary protein as the DHEA-treated mice.

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