TY - JOUR
T1 - Lipid metabolism and diet
T2 - Possible mechanisms of slow aging
AU - Puca, Annibale Alessandro
AU - Chatgilialoglu, Chryssostomos
AU - Ferreri, Carla
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - The ability to survive to an extremely old age is a consequence of complex interactions among genes, environment, lifestyle and luck. In the last two centuries, life expectancy in western countries has doubled, increasing from 40 to 81 years (79 for males and 82 for females). The candidate factors to determine such mortality reduction are reduced exposure to infections and the subsequent reduction in inflammatory responses, and to some extent, improvement in diet and nutrition. Among the people born at the beginning of the previous century, a small portion of individuals (1 in 10,000 born) have reached 100 years, surviving approximately 20 years more than the general population. The successful longevity of these individuals shows a familial component, possibly genetic, as underlined by the centenarian sibling's increased chance of reaching 100 years of age compared to the general population. Genetic studies on long living individuals have led to the discovery of potential genetic causes of extreme longevity. These discoveries have highlighted the role of lipid metabolism as a potential key player in the ability to survive to extreme old age. Additional studies on the longevity phenotype have confirmed the role of lipids and lipid-associated cell activities in the predisposition to longevity, from lower eukaryotes to humans. The main focus of this review is the appreciation of demographic survival data and changes in recent diet with the above mentioned genetic and phenotypic biomarkers of longevity, in order to elucidate hypotheses on mechanisms of slow aging and disease resistance.
AB - The ability to survive to an extremely old age is a consequence of complex interactions among genes, environment, lifestyle and luck. In the last two centuries, life expectancy in western countries has doubled, increasing from 40 to 81 years (79 for males and 82 for females). The candidate factors to determine such mortality reduction are reduced exposure to infections and the subsequent reduction in inflammatory responses, and to some extent, improvement in diet and nutrition. Among the people born at the beginning of the previous century, a small portion of individuals (1 in 10,000 born) have reached 100 years, surviving approximately 20 years more than the general population. The successful longevity of these individuals shows a familial component, possibly genetic, as underlined by the centenarian sibling's increased chance of reaching 100 years of age compared to the general population. Genetic studies on long living individuals have led to the discovery of potential genetic causes of extreme longevity. These discoveries have highlighted the role of lipid metabolism as a potential key player in the ability to survive to extreme old age. Additional studies on the longevity phenotype have confirmed the role of lipids and lipid-associated cell activities in the predisposition to longevity, from lower eukaryotes to humans. The main focus of this review is the appreciation of demographic survival data and changes in recent diet with the above mentioned genetic and phenotypic biomarkers of longevity, in order to elucidate hypotheses on mechanisms of slow aging and disease resistance.
KW - Aging
KW - Fatty acids
KW - Longevity
KW - Metabolism
KW - Mild stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=39049146133&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=39049146133&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocel.2007.04.003
DO - 10.1016/j.biocel.2007.04.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 17509925
AN - SCOPUS:39049146133
VL - 40
SP - 324
EP - 333
JO - International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
JF - International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology
SN - 1357-2725
IS - 3
ER -