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An abstract of the 6-page review of recent developments in how
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrinology may affect aging
and lifespan appears
below.

Bellino FL.
Advances in endocrinology of aging research, 2005-2006.
Exp Gerontol. 2006 Nov 14; [Epub ahead of print]
PMID: 17110071

The purpose of this brief review is to highlight some of the
more important
advances in endocrinology of aging research over the past
year. Four
advances were chosen and briefly described. First,
exploration of the early
steps in the generation of the internal steroidal hormonal
signal involved
in lifespan extension via the insulin/IGF-like signaling
pathway in the
nematode by two research groups revealed that the product of
cholestanoic
acid derivatives metabolized by a cytochrome P-450-like
protein activates a
protein with homology to the mammalian nuclear receptor
superfamily, a
process strikingly similar to the steroid hormone signaling
pathway
documented in mammalian systems. Second is the discovery
that sirtuins,
proteins that regulate lifespan in model organisms, enhance
pancreatic
insulin secretion in mice following a glucose challenge,
suggesting the
potential to regulate mammalian lifespan through regulation
of the insulin
signaling pathway. Third, the newly discovered hormone
klotho, which also
plays a role in regulating lifespan, in this case in mice,
is reported to
not only negatively affect insulin sensitivity but, perhaps
more
importantly, significantly affects calcium and phosphate
metabolism as a
required cofactor of Fgf-23 signaling. Finally the
gonadotropin FSH is shown
to directly affect bone density in mice separate from any
direct effect of
estrogen, suggesting that reproductive hormones other than
estrogen can
directly impact menopause-associated pathophysiology in
non-reproductive
tissues.