The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access originally published online on February 19, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 2009 64A(2):187-191; doi:10.1093/gerona/gln061
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This article appears in the following The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences issue: Special Issue: Biology of Aging Summit [View the issue table of contents]
Biological Approaches to Mechanistically Understand the Healthy Life Span Extension Achieved by Calorie Restriction and Modulation of Hormones
1 Department of Medicine
2 Department of Genetics, Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
3 Department of Physiology
4 Department of Internal Medicine, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield
Address correspondence to Nir Barzilai, MD, Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Belfer Building 701, Bronx, NY 10461. barzilai{at}aecom.yu.edu
| Abstract |
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Calorie restriction and reduced somatotropic (growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1) signaling have a widespread though not universal ability to extend life. These interventions are considered central tools to understanding the downstream events that lead to the increase in healthy life span. As these approaches have been validated, the animals phenotyped, and the mechanisms proposed, many challenges have emerged. In this article, we give several examples and propose several considerations, opportunities, and approaches that may identify major mechanisms through which these interventions exert their effects, and which may lead to drug therapy to increase "health span."
Keywords Healthylife span; Caloric restriction; Growth hormone; Insolin-Like growth fact
Received: December 9, 2008; Accepted: December 10, 2008