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Want to slow aging? New
research suggests it takes more than
antioxidants
July 2010--Don't put down the red wine and vitamins just yet, but
if you're taking antioxidants because you
hope to live longer, consider this: a new
study published in the June 2010 issue of
the journal GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org)
casts doubt on the theory that oxidative
stress to our tissues shortens lifespan.
That's because researchers from McGill University in Canada have
identified mutations in 10 different genes
of worms (genes believed to have
counterparts in humans) that extend their
lifespan without reducing the level of
oxidative stress the worms suffer. The
results contradict the popular theory that
production of toxic reactive oxygen species
in tissues is responsible for aging.
"We hope that our study will help in tempering the undue emphasis
put on the notion that oxidative stress
causes aging and thus that antioxidants
could combat aging," said Siegfried Hekimi,
Ph.D, the senior author of the study from
the Department of Biology at McGill
University in Montreal. "We also hope that
the genes we have discovered can be used in
the future to modulate energy metabolism in
a way that can help delay the health issues
linked to aging, and possibly increase
lifespan itself."
To make their discovery, the scientists exposed a passel of worms (Caenorhabditis
elegans) to a chemical that causes random
changes in its DNA, and looked among the
mutagenized worms for those appearing to
have a slow rate of metabolism, manifested
in their slow development and slow
behavioral responses.
They then identified the mutations in these worms that caused this
effect, revealing 10 distinct genes involved
in metabolism. The scientists' expected that
the slowly metabolizing worms would have
less oxidative stress, but to the
investigators' surprise that was not the
case.
This suggests that a slow rate of living and reduced energy
metabolism is sufficient to increase
longevity, even when oxidative stress is not
reduced.
"It looks like there's more truth to the cliché, 'slow and steady
wins the race,' than we imagined," said Mark
Johnston, Editor-in-Chief of the journal
GENETICS. "This research suggests that
if we just eat less, we may not have to
suffer eating all that broccoli simply for
its antioxidants."
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