Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Aging and health--a systems biology perspective. Introduction.
Authors: Jazwinski SM, Yashin AI PMID: 25509217 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology)
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - December 18, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

The role of hormesis in life extension by dietary restriction.
Authors: Masoro EJ Abstract The level of food restriction that results in life extension and retarded aging in rodents also enhances their ability to cope with intense stressors. Moreover, this level of dietary restriction (DR) leads to a modest increase in the daily peak concentration of plasma free corticosterone, which strongly points to DR as a low-intensity stressor. These findings suggest that hormesis plays a role in the life-extending and anti-aging actions of DR. The evidence for and against this possibility is considered, and it is concluded that hormesis does have an important role. PMID...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Metabolic reprogramming in dietary restriction.
Authors: Anderson RM, Weindruch R Abstract It is widely accepted that energy intake restriction without essential nutrient deficiency delays the onset of aging and extends life span. The mechanism underlying this phenomenon is still unknown though a number of different, nonmutually exclusive explanations have been proposed. In each of these, different facets of physiology play the more significant role in the mechanism of aging retardation. Some examples include the altered lipid composition model, the immune response model and models describing changes in endocrine function. In this paper we propose the h...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Secrets of the lac operon. Glucose hysteresis as a mechanism in dietary restriction, aging and disease.
Authors: Mobbs CV, Mastaitis JW, Zhang M, Isoda F, Cheng H, Yen K Abstract Elevated blood glucose associated with diabetes produces progressive and apparently irreversible damage to many cell types. Conversely, reduction of glucose extends life span in yeast, and dietary restriction reduces blood glucose. Therefore it has been hypothesized that cumulative toxic effects of glucose drive at least some aspects of the aging process and, conversely, that protective effects of dietary restriction are mediated by a reduction in exposure to glucose. The mechanisms mediating cumulative toxic effects of glucose are ...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Effects of dietary restriction on the expression of insulin-signaling-related genes in long-lived mutant mice.
Authors: Bartke A, Masternak MM, Al-Regaiey KA, Bonkowski MS Abstract Hypopituitary Ames dwarf mice and growth-hormone-resistant (growth hormone receptor knockout, GHRKO) mice have reduced plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 and insulin, enhanced insulin sensitivity and a remarkably increased life span. This resembles the phenotypic characteristics of genetically normal animals subjected to dietary restriction (DR). Interestingly, DR leads to further increases in insulin sensitivity and longevity in Ames dwarfs but not in GHRKO mice. It was therefore of interest to examine the effects of DR on th...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Anti-inflammatory mechanisms of dietary restriction in slowing aging processes.
Authors: Morgan TE, Wong AM, Finch CE Abstract Dietary restriction (DR) remains the most powerful and general environmental manipulation of aging processes in laboratory animals with strong beneficial effects on most age-related degenerative changes throughout the body. Underlying the beneficial effects of DR is the attenuation of system-wide inflammatory processes including those occurring within the central nervous system. During normal aging a progressive neuroinflammatory state builds in the brain involving astrocytes and microglia, the primary cellular components of neuroinflammation. DR attenuates th...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Dietary restriction in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
Authors: Houthoofd K, Gems D, Johnson TE, Vanfleteren JR Abstract The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has proved to be an excellent model organism for the study of development and aging. Many aging mutants have been discovered in the past two decades, and much has been discovered about the physiology of long-lived mutants. It therefore seems surprising that dietary restriction (DR) has not been extensively studied using C. elegans. The main reason for this is the lack of an ideal method to subject C. elegans to DR. However, several authors have tried to study the effect of DR on the metabolism and physiolo...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Diet restriction in Drosophila melanogaster. Design and analysis.
Authors: Tatar M Abstract Diet restriction (DR) was first shown to extend adult survival in Drosophila only a bit longer than a dozen years ago. Limiting the amount of dietary yeast was sufficient to increase life span. In the short time since this initial observation, work with Drosophila has revealed several insights into the mechanisms of DR. It has also uncovered many unanticipated technical issues. This paper describes how resolving the way we study DR in Drosophila is a prerequisite to discover the way nutrition modulates aging. Key empirical problems include the necessity of measuring the impact of ...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Dietary restriction in aging nonhuman primates.
Authors: Mattison JA, Roth GS, Lane MA, Ingram DK Abstract Dietary restriction (DR) has been shown to benefit health and longevity in a wide variety of species, although most have maximal life spans of only a few years. In 1987, the National Institute on Aging began the first well-controlled long-term study in a species with a considerably longer life span and a closer physiology to humans. Using rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), an extensive array of physiological measures have been conducted in both males and females to evaluate the effects of DR. Monkeys benefit from DR with a lower body weight, body fat...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Caloric intake and Alzheimer's disease. Experimental approaches and therapeutic implications.
Authors: Pasinetti GM, Zhao Z, Qin W, Ho L, Shrishailam Y, Macgrogan D, Ressmann W, Humala N, Liu X, Romero C, Stetka B, Chen L, Ksiezak-Reding H, Wang J Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a rapidly growing public health concern with potentially devastating effects. Presently, there are no known cures or effective preventive strategies. While genetic factors are relevant in early-onset cases, they appear to play less of a role in late-onset sporadic AD cases, the most common form of AD. Due to the fact that the disease typically strikes very late in life, delaying symptoms could be as good as a cure for ...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Can short-term dietary restriction and fasting have a long-term anticarcinogenic effect?
Authors: Klebanov S Abstract Long-term dietary restriction (DR) robustly inhibits various types of carcinogenesis in rodents. Because malignancies are a major cause of death in humans, reducing the incidence or, at least, delaying the time of onset of neoplasia may significantly increase longevity of a large proportion of the human population. Long-term DR may not however be practical in humans and, judging from religious practices, several days of fasting to several weeks of DR is what a large segment of the human population can adhere to. In contrast to long-term DR, a single episode of fasting or severa...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Menopause and reproductive senescence in comparative context.
Authors: Erwin JM, Hof PR Abstract Menopause and reproductive senescence can be more fully understood by examining these phenomena where they occur in nonhuman mammals, as well as humans, and especially by comparisons among primates. In addition to concerns about human health and welfare, successful programs for wildlife management and agriculture, and the propagation and conservation of endangered species depend on detailed understanding of reproduction and fertility throughout the life span. Appropriate care of elderly primates in zoological gardens also requires knowledge of their health, behavior, and ...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Aging in wild female lemurs: sustained fertility with increased infant mortality.
Authors: Wright P, King SJ, Baden A, Jernvall J Abstract Understanding the way prosimian primates age can be helpful in inferring what the 'basal primate mode' of senescence may have been. Even though prosimians are known to be long-lived in captivity, relatively little is known about their reproductive senescence, and even less is known about how prosimians age in their natural habitats. Twenty years of observational data in Madagascar for four Propithecus edwardsi sifaka groups were used to analyze reproductive and behavioral trends of aging in the wild. Techniques using tooth wear were developed to esta...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Reproduction and aging in marmosets and tamarins.
Authors: Tardif SD, Araujo A, Arruda MF, French JA, Sousa MB, Yamamoto ME Abstract This chapter presents data on the relations between reproduction and aging in both captive and free-ranging marmosets and tamarins. The relationship is examined from two perspectives. First, the relation of age to physiological impairments in reproductive function is explored. Callitrichid females, in common with many other nonhuman primates, begin to display anovulation associated with follicular depletion at a point relatively close to the maximum life span. Unlike Old World primates, however, they continued to display sig...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research

Aging cebidae.
Authors: Williams L Abstract New World monkeys have been used extensively as biomedical models for human diseases, yet little is known about aging in these animals. Life spans in cebids vary, with most species living to approximately 20-30 years of age. Capuchins may be an exception, possibly living as long as 40-50 years. Biomarkers of aging in squirrel monkeys have been studied primarily in relation to the reduced calorie model of aging. These data suggest that squirrel monkeys do not show the same physiological effects of aging as rhesus monkeys and they do not react to a reduced calorie diet the same a...
Source: Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology - November 25, 2014 Category: Geriatrics Tags: Interdiscip Top Gerontol Source Type: research