X-Message-Number: 8435
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 1997 06:43:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: C57BL/6J mice longevity database
C57BL/6J MICE LONGEVITY DATABASE
(Updated by Doug Skrecky July 31,1997)
The following database lists the effect of various interventions on
average life span of C57BL/6J mice. Terms used: CR(Caloric Restriction),
PR(Protein Restriction), VR(Vitamin Restriction), MR(Mineral Restriction),
EOD(fed Every Other Day). A plus sign added to a period means that the
intervention continued till death. Thus 12+ means the intervention started
at 12 months and lasted till all of the animals had died. The ~ sign
usually means that where average life span is not tabulated in a
reference, it is estimated from graphs and the percentage change from
controls is calculated from this estimate.
The advantage of considering only a single strain (C57BL/6J) of mice is
that a meaningful comparison can be made between various intervention
groups and the Longest Lived Control (LLC) group from all of the
experiments. This amounts to 34.3 months for a control group from
reference 20. I hope this will put in perspective the meaning of many of
the beneficial interventions. No intervention has significantly increased
the average life span over that of the LLC control group. For example the
male control mice in the pantothenic acid experiment lived on average 18.6
months. The pantothenic acid doped male mice lived 22 months on average,
for an 18% increase. However compared to 34.3 months or the LLC group this
is still a 36% decrease. One can not conclude that pantothenic acid will
increase life span in healthy controls, since all that has been
demonstrated is that this vitamin helps reduce the mortality rate
of unhealthy mice. The same can be said for all of the other interventions
including caloric restriction.
Several factors may account for variations in control mice life span.
These include the failure to house the animals individually, feeding
Purina chow, which hs toxic levels of aluminum (Age 14:53-56 1991), and
failure to maintain proper sanitation. Research with other rodent strains
have found that substitution of starch for sucrose in the diet, and
substitution of either soybean or whey protein for casein results in
increased life span. On an additional speculative note the substitution of
high amylose starch for low amylose starch may further increase life span
since this has been found to retard the development of adult onset
diabetes in rodents. It is very likely that proper attention to all these
factors would increase control life span beyond than of the current LLC
group. This was singlely housed, but was fed casein protein and 72%
sucrose/28% cornstarch for the carbohydrate.
REF INTERVENTION PERIOD %CHANGE %CHANGE LLC
*7 acetaminophen 242 mg/l 9.4+ 2 -33
*24 aluminum 10 mM 20.1+ -7 -17
*1 ascorbic acid 1% drinking water 1.2+ 9 -9
*7 aspirin 495 mg/l 8.1+ 0 -34
*7 242 8.1+ -10 -41
*7 113 8.1+-9.3+ 3 -32
*4 beta carotene 0.5% 1+ 5 -13
*4 0.5% 20.3+ -12 -22
*25 brain damage 1+ 1 -18
*6 butylated hydroxytoluene 0.5% 2.5+ 26 -18
*6 0.2% 10+ 0 -12
*7 chloropromazine 16.7 mg/l 9.7+-10.7+ 0 -34
*7 chloroquine 39.5 mg/l 10.4+-12.1+ 0 -34
*7 13.2 mg/l 9.4+-10.4+ -8 -40
*7 chlorpheniramine 2.28 mg/l 9.4+ -2 -34
*7 0.762 mg/l 9.4+-10.4+ 0 -34
*8 coffee (in place of drinking water) 7+ ~-8 ~-21
*8 (in place of drinking water) 4+ ~-17 ~-42
*5 copper gluconate 5 mM 1+ -14 -24
*5 1 mM 1+ -12 -24
*5 0.5 mM 1+ -15 -26
*23 -49% CR 1+ 48 -2
*15 -44% CR 12+ 20 -13
*20 -43% CR,PR 0+ 12 -16
*20 -43% CR,PR 0+ -9 -9
*20 -43% CR,PR 0+ 5 -3
*20 -43% CR,PR 0.7+ -7 -30
*20 -43% CR,PR 0.7+ -9 -9
*20 -43% CR,PR 0.8+ -11 -17
*20 -43% CR,PR 1+ -1 -38
*21 -40% CR,PR,MR 1+ 15 -8
*21 -40% CR,PR,MR 1+ 24 -2
*16 -33% CR,PR,VR,MR 1+ 5 -21
*18 -25% CR,PR,VR,MR 1+ -33 -43
*19 -12.5% CR,PR,VR,MR (50% cellulose) 16+ 8 -21
*19 -12.5% CR,PR,VR,MR (50% cellulose) 16+ 11 -16
*19 -7.7% CR,PR,VR,MR (33% cellulose) 16+ 5 -23
*19 -7.7% CR,PR,VR,MR (33% cellulose) 16+ 4 -22
*20 EOD CR,PR,VR,MR (during weaning) 0-0.7 25 -6
*20 EOD CR,PR,VR,MR (during weaning) 0-0.7 9 9
(longest lived control (LLC) group here lived 34.3 months average)
*17 EOD CR,PR,VR,MR 1.5+ 27 -8
*17 EOD CR,PR,VR,MR 6+ 11 -15
*17 EOD CR,PR,VR,MR 10+ 0 -21
*12 EOD CR,PR,VR,MR 25+ 0 -17
*7 dimethylaminoethyl 8.1+-9.3+ 4 -32
chlorophenoxyacetate
*13 exercise 12-24 ~0 ~-13
*13 exercise 24+ ~-5 ~-15
*14 exposure to 10 C decreases
*11 melatonin (night time) 19+ 17 -15
*6 2-mercaptoethylamine HCL 1% 10+ 0 -12
*6 1% 10+ 0 -18
*9 methionine 50 mM 1.4+ ~-17 ~-26
*9 50 mM 19.4+ ~0 ~-27
*2 pantothenic acid 0.3 mg/day 1+ 18 -36
0.3 mg/day 1+ 20 -37
*11 pineal grafting 16+ ~24 ~-24
*12 protein 4 to 24% 25+ ~0 ~-15
*22 -85% PR 1+ ~19 ~-18
*3 pyridoxine HCL 100 mg/kg/day 18+ 11 ?
*10 thiazolidine-4-carboxylate
*10 magnesium 0.07% 23+ ~9 ~-9
*12 vitamin level NRC 4X 1+ 19 -28
*12 4X 12+ 0 -22
*12 4X 17+ 2 -19
*12 4X 20+ 0 -24
*12 vitamin level NRC 0.5X 1+ -57 -74
*12 0.5X 12+ -23 -41
*12 0.5X 17+ -18 -34
*12 0.5X 20+ 1 -23
*1 "Dietary Vitamin C Improves the Survival of Mice" Gerontology
30: 371-375 1984
*2 "Effect of Pantothenic Acid on the Longevity of Mice" Proceedings
of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 99(3): 632-633
December 1958
*3 "Favorable Effects of Pyridoxine HCL on the Aging Process of C57BL/6J
Mice" AGE 5(4): 143 October 1982
*4 "Effect of Dietary B-Carotene on the Survival of Young and Old Mice"
Gerontology 32: 189-195 1986
*5 "Excessive Intake of Copper: Influence on Longevity and Cadmium
Accumulation in Mice" Mechanisms of Ageing and Development
26: 195-203 1984
*6 "Effect of Antioxidents on Life-Span of C57BL Mice" Journal of
Gerontology 26(3): 378-380 1971
*7 "Effects of Various Drugs on Longevity in Female C57BL/6J Mice"
Gerontologia 19: 271-280 1973
*8 "The Effects of Prolonged Coffee Intake on Genetically Identical
Mice" Life Sciences 21(1): 63-70 1977
*9 "The Effect of Dietary Methionine on the Copper Content of Tissues
and Survival of Young and Old Mice" Experimental Gerontology
19: 393-399 1984
*10 "Favorable Effects of the Antioxidents Sodium and Magnesium
Thiazolidine Carboxylate on the Vitality and Life Span of
Drosophilia and Mice" Experimental Gerontology 14: 279-285 1979
*11 "The Pineal Control of Aging: The Effects of Melatonin and Pineal
Grafting on the Survival of Older Mice" Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences" 621: 291-313 1991
*12 "The Effect of Dietary Vitamin, Protein and Intake Levels on the
Life Span of Mice of Different Ages" Age 8: 13-17 January 1985
*13 "Effect of Exercise on Longevity, Body Weight, Locomotor Performance
and Passive-Avoidance Memory of C57BL/6J Mice" Neurobiology of Aging
6: 17-24 1985
*14 "A Longitudinal Study of Tolerance to Cold Stress Among C57BL/6J Mice
Journal of Gerontology 40(1): 8-14 1985
*15 "Dietary Restriction in Mice Beginning at 1 Year of Age: Effect on
Life-Span and Spontaneous Cancer Incidence" Science 215: 1415-1418
1982
*16 "Effects of Food Restriction on Aging: Separation of food Intake
and Adiposity"Proc. Natl. Acad. USA 81: 1835-1838 1984
*17 "Effects of Intermittent Feeding Upon Body Weight and Lifespan
in Inbred Mice: Interaction of Genotype and Age" Mechanisms of
Ageing and Development 55:69-87 1990
*18 "Genetic Differences in Effects of Food Restriction on Aging in
Mice" Journal of Nutrition 117: 376-382 1987
*19 "Effect of Dietary Cellulose on Life Span and Biochemical Variables
of Male Mice" Age 11(1): 7-9 1988
*20 "Survival and Disease Patterns in C57BL/6J Mice Subjected to
Undernutrition" Experimental Gerontology 15: 237-258 1980
*21 "Longevity, Body Weight, and Neoplasia in Ad Libitum-Fed and
Diet-Restricted C57BL/6J Mice Fed NIH-31 Open Formula Diet"
Toxicologic Pathology 23(5): 570-582 1995
*22 "Dietary Protein, Life-Span and Biochemical Variables in Female
Mice" Journal of Gerontology 31(2): 144-148 1976
*23 "Mitotic Activity in Mice is Suppressed by Energy
Restriction-Induced Torpor" Journal of Nutrition 122: 1446-1453 1992
*24 "Aluminum in the Organs and Diet of Ageing C57BL/6J Mice"
Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 45: 145-156 1988
*25 "Brain Damage, Stress and Life Span: An Experimental Study"
Journal of Gerontology 37(2): 161-168 1982
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