Effects of food restriction on aging: separation of food intake and adiposity.

Restricted feeding of rodents increases longevity, but its mechanism of action is not understood. We studied the effects of life-long food restriction in genetically obese and normal mice of the same inbred strain in order to distinguish whether the reduction in food intake or the reduction in adiposity (percentage of fatty tissue) was the critical component in retarding the aging process. This was possible because food-restricted obese (ob/ob) mice maintained a high degree of adiposity. In addition to determining longevities, changes with age were measured in collagen, immune responses, and r...

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