Summary Prolonged fasting (PF) promotes stress resistance but its effects on longevity are poorly understood. We show that alternating PF and nutrient-rich medium extended yeast lifespan independently of established pro-longevity genes. In mice, four days of a diet that mimics fasting (FMD), developed to minimize the burden of PF, decreased the size of multiple organs/systems; an effect followed upon re-feeding by an elevated number of progenitor and stem cells and regeneration. Bi-monthly FMD cycles started at middle age extended longevity, lowered visceral fat, reduced cancer incidence and skin lesions, rejuvenated the immune system, and retarded bone mineral density loss. In old mice, FMD cycles promoted hippocampal neurogenesis, lowered IGF-1 levels and PKA activity, elevated NeuroD1, and improved cognitive performance. In a pilot clinical trial, three FMD cycles decreased risk factors/biomarkers for aging, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer without major adverse effects, providing support for the use of FMDs to promote healthspan.

Recent progress in structure elucidation of products of the advanced Maillard reaction now allows probing specifically for the role of this reaction in the pathogenesis of age- and diabetes-related complications. Pyrraline is a glucose-derived advanced glycation end product against which polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies have been raised. Immunohistochemical localization studies revealed that pyrraline is found predominantly in the sclerosed extracellular matrix of glomerular and arteriolar renal tissues from both diabetic and aged nondiabetic individuals. Pentosidine and carboxymethyllysine are Maillard end products derived from both glucose and ascorbate. In addition, pentosidine can be formed from several other sugars under oxidative conditions, and in vitro studies suggest that a common intermediate involving a pentose is a necessary precursor molecule. The highest levels of these advanced Maillard products are generally found in the extracellular matrix, but these products are also present in lens proteins and in proteins with a fast turnover such as plasma proteins. Diabetes, and especially uremia, greatly catalyzes pentosidine formation. Both conditions are characterized by accelerated cataractogenesis, atherosclerosis, and neuropathy, suggesting that molecular damage by advanced Maillard reaction products may be a common mechanism in their development.

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It is well known that bone mass density decreases with age. Age-related bone mass loss is ascribed to several factors. Nonenzymatic glycation has been proposed as a new potential factor in the loss of bone during aging. In this study we evaluated the concentration of pentosidine, an advanced glycation end product, in cortical and trabecular bone and in the plasma of subjects undergoing orthopedic surgery. The relationship between these parameters and a clinical index of osteoporosis was also studied. Samples of bone and plasma of 104 nondiabetic subjects (74 women and 30 men), 72 +/- 1 years old, were studied. Pentosidine was determined by HPLC after decalcification and hydrolysis. The radiologic Singh index was evaluated blindly by orthopedic surgeons to provide the degree of osteoporosis. Pentosidine concentration of cortical bone shows a significant exponential increase with age (r = 0.610, P < 0.001). This increase, however, is not seen in the trabecular bone, which is characterized by a large spread in the data. Interestingly the concentration of cortical pentosidine is also related to the Singh score (r(s) = -0.274, P < 0.01). Plasma pentosidine has a significant exponential correlation with age (r = +0.339, P < 0.001) and a linear correlation with the cortical bone pentosidine (r = +0.248, P < 0.05). This study demonstrates that pentosidine increases exponentially in cortical bone during aging, and is thus a good biomarker for the degree of bone mass density loss. The trabecular bone concentration of pentosidine is more variable, probably because of the turnover rate and the local environment; plasma pentosidine might provide information on the bone turnover rate.

Pentosidine is a fluorescent advanced Maillard/glycosylation product and protein cross-link present in elevated amounts in skin from diabetic and uremic subjects. A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay was developed to quantitate pentosidine in plasma and erythrocytes and other tissue proteins with low levels of pentosidine. High protein content and presence of basic amino acids and O2 during acid hydrolysis led to the formation of fluorescent artifacts that could be separated from true pentosidine through combined reverse-phase ion-exchange HPLC. No true pentosidine was formed during acid hydrolysis of ribated protein, suggesting that Amadori products do not generate artifactual pentosidine during hydrolysis. With the combined reverse-phase ion-exchange chromatographic assay, we found a 2.5-fold (P less than 0.001) and a 23-fold (P less than 0.001) elevation of mean +/- SD plasma protein pentosidine in diabetic (2.4 +/- 1.2 pmol/mg) and uremic (21.5 +/- 10.8 pmol/mg) subjects compared with healthy (0.95 +/- 0.33 pmol/mg) subjects. Pentosidine in hemolysate was normal in diabetes but dramatically elevated in uremia (0.6 +/- 0.4 pmol/mg hemoglobin, P less than 0.001). Although the precise nature of the pentosidine precursor sugar is unknown, plasma pentosidine may be a useful marker for monitoring the biochemical efficacy of trials with aminoguanidine or other treatment modalities. Furthermore, pentosidine in plasma proteins may act as a signal for advanced glycosylation end product-mediated receptor uptake by macrophages and other cells and contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis in diabetes and uremia.

Pentosidine is an advanced glycosylation end product and protein cross-link that results from the reaction of pentoses with proteins. Recent data indicate that long-term glycation of proteins with glucose also leads to pentosidine formation through sugar fragmentation. In this study, the relationship between the severity of diabetic complications and pentosidine formation was investigated in collagen from skin-punch biopsies from 25 nondiabetic control subjects and 41 IDDM patients with diabetes duration greater than 17 yr. Pentosidine was significantly elevated in all IDDM patients versus control subjects (P less than 0.0001). It correlated strongly with age (P less than 0.0001) and weakly with duration (P less than 0.082). Age-adjusted pentosidine levels were highest in grade 2 (severe) versus grade 1 and 0 complication in all four parameters tested (retinopathy, proteinuria, arterial stiffness, and joint stiffness). Significant differences were found for retinopathy (P less than 0.014) and joint stiffness (P less than 0.041). The highest degree of association was with the cumulative grade of individual complication (P less than 0.005), determined by summing indexes of all four parameters. Pentosidine also was significantly elevated in the serum of IDDM patients compared with control subjects (P less than 0.0001), but levels were not significantly correlated with age, diabetes duration, complication, or skin collagen pentosidine (P greater than 0.05). A high correlation between pentosidine levels and long-wave collagen-linked fluorescence also was observed, suggesting that pentosidine is a generalized marker of accelerated tissue modification by the advanced glycosylation/Maillard reaction, which is enhanced in IDDM patients with severe complications.

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