Abstract

Caloric restriction (CR) - or reduced calorie intake with nutritional maintenance - can extend lifespan and increase resistance to age-related disease by mechanisms which likely involve reduced oxyradical production and cellular hormesis responses in which genes encoding cytoprotective proteins are upregulated. Recent studies suggest that several of the anti-aging effects of CR can be mimicked by giving animals compounds that reduce energy availability at the cellular level. Such CR mimetic compounds (e.g., 2-deoxy-D-glucose, phenformin and iodoacetate) have proven beneficial in experimental models of neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. CR mimetics appear to act via a hormesis-based mechanism in which cells upregulate heat-shock and other chaperone proteins, and growth factors. Although long-term effects of dietary supplementation with such CR mimetics remain to be determined, the initial findings reviewed here suggest a novel approach for the investigation of basic mechanisms of aging, for the possible extension of lifespan without CR, and for dealing with the rising tide of obesity in industrialized countries.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call