X-Message-Number: 12572
Date: Fri, 15 Oct 1999 11:02:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: Skin aging and caloric restriction in monkeys

Authors
  Pendergrass WR.  Lane MA.  Bodkin NL.  Hansen BC.  Ingram DK.  Roth GS.  Yi
  L.  Bin H.  Wolf NS.
Institution
  Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA.
Title
  Cellular proliferation
  potential during aging and caloric restriction in rhesus
  monkeys (Macaca mulatta).
Source
  Journal of Cellular Physiology.  180(1):123-30, 1999 Jul.
Abstract
  Caloric restriction (CR) is the most successful method of extending both
  median and maximal lifespans in rodents and other short-lived species. It is
  not yet clear whether this method of life extension will be successful in
  longer-lived species, possibly including humans; however, trials in rhesus
  monkeys are underway. We have examined the cellular
  proliferative potential of cells from CR and AL (ad libitum
  fed) monkey skin cells using two different bioassays: colony size analysis
  (CSA) of dermal fibroblasts isolated and cloned directly from the skin and
  beta-galactosidase staining at pH 6.0 (BG-6.0) of epidermal cells in frozen
  sections of skin. Decreases in both proliferative markers occurred with age,
  but no differences were observed between CR and AL animals. Skin biopsies
  were obtained from AL and CR rhesus monkeys from two different aging
  colonies, one at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and one at the
  University of Maryland-Baltimore (UMB). These biopsies were used as a source
  of tissue sections and cells for two biomarkers of aging assays. The CR
  monkeys had been maintained for 9-12 years on approximately 70% of the
  caloric intake of control AL animals. In the CSA studies, the fraction of
  small clones increased significantly and the fraction of large clones
  decreased significantly with increasing age in AL monkeys. The frequency of
  epidermal BG-6.0 staining cells increased with age in older (>22 years) AL
  monkeys, but most predominately in those of the UMB colony, which were
  somewhat heavier than the NIH AL controls. Old monkeys on CR tended to have
  fewer BG-6.0-positive cells relative to old AL-derived epidermis, but this
  effect was not significant. These results indicate that
  cellular proliferative potential declined
  with age in Macaca mulatta, but was not significantly altered by CR under
  these conditions. Although these experiments are consistent with an absence
  of effect of CR on monkey skin cell proliferative potential,
  we have found in previous experiments with mice that a longer duration of CR
  (as a fraction of total lifespan) was needed to demonstrate CR-related
  improvement in clone size in mice. Further studies on the now mid-aged
  monkeys will be needed as their age exceeds 20 years to conclusively rule out
  an effect of CR on proliferative potential of skin cells
  from these primates.

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