Calorie restriction is the most reasonable anti-ageing intervention: a meta-analysis of survival curves

Abstract

Despite technological advances, the survival records from longevity experiments remain the most indispensable tool in ageing-related research. A variety of interventions, including medications, genetic manipulations and calorie restriction (CR), have been demonstrated to extend the lifespan of several species. Surprisingly, few systematic studies have investigated the differences among these anti-ageing strategies using survival data. Here, we conduct a comprehensive and comparative meta-analysis of numerous published studies on Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila. We found that CR and genetic manipulations are generally more effective than medications at extending the total lifespan in both models, and CR can improve the ageing pattern of C. elegans. We further analysed the survival variation for different anti-ageing medications and determined that hypoglycaemic agents and antioxidants are advantageous despite only moderately increasing the overall lifespan; therefore, these two types of medications are promising CR mimetics. Analysis of genetic manipulations also indicated that the genes or pathways that extend lifespan in a healthier pattern are associated with CR. These results suggest that CR or CR mimetics may be the most reasonable and potentially beneficial anti-ageing strategy.

Gene-by-environmental modulation of longevity and weight gain in the murine BXD family

“…Relative to an ad libitum diet-a condition far from the natural pattern of food consumption-caloric restriction and intermittent fasting improve lifespan and health (reviewed by Heilbronn and Ravussin, 2003;Liang et al, 2018;Speakman et al, 2016). Effects are not entirely dependent on patterns of caloric intake, but depend on dietary macro-and micronutrient composition, the amount of time spent in different metabolic states, age of onset, sex, and perhaps of most importance to us, differences in genotype (Vaughan et al, 2018) and gene-by-diet interactions (Barrington et al, 2018).…”

Aging, Calorie Restriction and Calorie Restriction Mimetics

“…The superiority of some of these strategies in extending life expectancy has not been known until recently. However, the meta analysis of the published studies with Caenorhabditis and Drosophila, using the appropriate algorithm, emphasized the overall advantage of calorie (or energy) restriction (CR) in slowing down the aging process and prolonging the lifespan 12 . It is therefore considered that more acceptable, anti-aging strategies, are those strategies that include environmental factors, to reduce the number of risk factors of bad health 13 .…”

Factors that affect the translation of dietary restriction into a longer life

“…Very few dietary interventions have been described that have undisputed health‐promoting effects. Caloric restriction (CR) and dietary restriction (DR) are the most significant dietary regimens for which such health‐promoting effects have been demonstrated . These positive effects include an increase in lifespan in a great variety of model organisms, ranging from yeast to mammals .…”

“…Caloric restriction (CR) and dietary restriction (DR) are the most significant dietary regimens for which such health-promoting effects have been demonstrated. [1][2][3][4][5] These positive effects include an increase in lifespan in a great variety of model organisms, ranging from yeast to mammals. 6 The publication of a plethora of reports claiming a prolongation of lifespan has led to the general perception that CR and/or DR might also represent a "fountain of youth" in humans.…”