Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) are the most abundant circulating adrenal steroid hormones. The plasma level of DHEAS correlates with longevity in primates and varies during human development, with a maximum in early adulthood and a marked decline during aging. DHEA promotes the expression of molecular chaperones that are housekeeping constitutive or stress response proteins essential for the processes of folding, translocation, maintenance, and disaggregation or degradation of misfolded polymers (proteins, RNA, and DNA), as well as for homeostasis, immune response, and cancer resistance. The level of chaperone expression correlates with longevity and shows a decline during aging. DHEA-induced promotion of chaperone expression could contribute to the epigenetic evolution of primate longevity.
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