Abstract
The steroid hormone intermediate, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), has been proposed as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of immunosenescence in mouse model. In the present study, the in vitro effect of DHEA on mitogen-induced lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production was evaluated in a rat model. Spleen lymphocytes were isolated from young (4–6 months) and old (24–26 months) F344 rats and were incubated with DHEA for 30 min. The induction of lymphocyte proliferation, interleukin-2 (IL-2), and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) production by concanavalin A (Con A) was measured in a culture medium supplemented with either fetal calf serum (FCS) or with serum-free medium (Nutridoma-SR, N-SR). The induction of lymphocyte proliferation and IL-2 production by Con A decreased significantly with age, whereas induction of IFN-γ increased with age. Treatment of lymphocytes with DHEA did not significantly alter Con A-induced proliferation or the production of IL-2 or IFN-γ by spleen lymphocytes isolated from either young or old rats. These data indicate that in vitro DHEA treatment appears to have no immunomodulatory effect on the age-related changes in mitogen-induced proliferation or cytokine production in rat lymphocytes.
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