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HAZZARD’S
GERIATRIC MEDICINE
AND GERONTOLOGY
Notice
Medicine is an ever-changing science. As new research and clinical experience broaden our knowledge, changes in
treatment and drug therapy are required. The authors and the publisher of this work have checked with sources believed
to be reliable in their efforts to provide information that is complete and generally in accord with the standards accepted
at the time of publication. However, in view of the possibility of human error and changes in medical sciences, neither
the editors nor the publisher nor any other party who has been involved in the preparation or publication of this
work warrants that the information contained herein is in every respect accurate or complete, and they disclaim all
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importance in connection with new or infrequently used drugs.
HAZZARD’S GERIATRIC MEDICINE
AND GERONTOLOGY
Sixth Edition
EDITORS
JEFFREY B. HALTER, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine
Chief, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Director, Geriatrics Center and Institute of Gerontology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
JOSEPH G. OUSLANDER, MD
Professor and Associate Dean for Geriatric Programs
Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science
Professor (Courtesy), Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Florida Atlantic University
Professor of Medicine (Voluntary)
Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Boca Raton, Florida
MARY E. TINETTI, MD
Gladys Phillips Crofoot Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health
Director, Program on Aging
Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
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publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-07-164124-1
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Contents
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Part II
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv
PRINCIPLES OF GERIATRICS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvii
10. Evaluation, Management, and Decision Making
Part I with the Older Patient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
PRINCIPLES OF GERONTOLOGY Sharon E. Strauss and Mary E. Tinetti
v
vi Contents
Australia Professor Leonard C. Gray, MD, PhD, Ireland Rose Anne Kenny, MD, FRCPI, FRCP
FRACP Professor, Geriatric Medicine/Consultant
Professor in Geriatric Medicine Medical Gerontology
Department of Medicine Trinity Centre, St. James Hospital
University of Queensland Trinity College Dublin, College Green
Princess Alexandra Hospital Dublin, Ireland
Woolloongabba, Australia
Brazil Renato Maia Guiaraes, MD, MSc Israel A. Mark Clarfield, MD, CCFP, FRCPC
President, International Association of Sidonie Hecht Professor of Gerontology
Gerontology and Geriatrics Faculty of Health Sciences
Director, Geriatric Medical Centre Ben Gurion University
Hospital Universitario de Brasilia Department of Geriatrics
Brasilia, Brazil Soroka Hospital
Beersheva, Israel
China Wu Wei-kang, MD
Professor and Director
Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese
Italy Roberto Bernabei, MD
and Western Medicine
Professor of Internal Medicine
Sun Yat-sen University
Dipartimento di Scienze Gerontologiche-
Guangzho, China
Geriatriche e Fisiatriche
Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
France Bruno Vellas, MD
Roma, Italy
President Elect, International Association
of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Professor of Medicine
Chief, Department of Internal Medicine Japan Naoki Ikegami, MD, PhD
and Geriatrics Professor and Chair of Health Policy and
Chief, Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Management
Research Centre Keio School of Medicine
Toulouse University Hospital Keio, Japan
Toulouse, France
Iceland Palmi V. Jonsson, MD, FACP Netherlands Professor Doctor Rudi G. J. Westendorp
Professor and Chief of Geriatrics Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics
Landspitali University Hospital Department of Clinical Epidemiology
University of Iceland School of Medicine Leiden University Medical Center
Reykjavik, Iceland Leiden, The Netherlands
ix
x Contributors
Spain Dr. Francisco Javier Ortiz Alonso Switzerland Dr. Jean-Pierre Michel
Associate Professor in Health Sciences Professor of Medicine
Departamento de Medicina Chair of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics
Universidad Complutense de Madrid University of Geneva Medical School
Chief Geriatric Section Geneva University Hospitals - Geriatric
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Department
Maranon Geneva, Switzerland
Madrid, Spain
Sweden Professor Bengt Winblad, MD, PhD United Kingdom Professor Gary Ford
Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Chief Professor of Pharmacology of Old Age
Physician Director Clinical Research Centre
Karolinska Institute University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Neurotec Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Karolinska University Hospital
Stockholm, Sweden
CHAPTER AUTHORS
Publication of the 6th edition marks an important milestone in the Encouraged by this promising beginning, the accelerating pace
evolution of this work-in-progress—passing the baton from the last of progress in aging research, and the recognition of Geriatrics as a
of the original editors to a new (albeit thoroughly seasoned) group legitimate, scientifically-based medical discipline (and by the thou-
from the next generation of geriatricians and gerontologists, ex- sands of practitioners and fellows who were certified through the
panded now to 6 under the senior leadership of Jeffrey Halter, who first examination developed as a joint effort by the American Board
bring the latest and the best in this growing field to students and of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Family Practice in
practitioners of our discipline on behalf of the aging patients we 1988), we proceeded to assemble the 2nd edition as an expanded vol-
serve. ume, notably through the contributions of a of fourth editor for the
This orderly succession gives me an enormous sense of pride and neural sciences (John Blass), and a section devoted to the Geriatric
confidence that the progressive maturation of this textbook over Syndromes, which was published in 1990. With its solid reputation
the first 5 editions will continue unabated for the foreseeable fu- established, the 3rd edition (with Nancy Woolard as editorial assis-
ture. From the outset this has been buttressed by the unflagging tant) followed in 1994, with additional editors in Jeffrey Halter (an-
commitment to our field demonstrated by McGraw-Hill since this other endocrinologist turned geriatrician) and Walter H. Ettinger,
project was but a gleam in the eye of Derek Jeffers, senior pub- Jr. (a rheumatologist but also the first fellowship-trained geriatrician
lisher’s editor for Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. In the on the panel), and the first turnover on the editorial board in the
late 1970s he conceived it as an important and timely initiative retirement of Andres from the panel. The 4th edition was published
on behalf of our new field to bring students and practitioners up in 1999 with Joseph Ouslander, another trained geriatrician, suc-
to modern standards in caring for the already burgeoning num- ceeding Ed Bierman following his death in 1995. Subsequently, as
bers of elderly patients. He first enlisted the collaboration of Edwin Ettinger left the board, he was succeeded by Mary Tinetti, another
L. Bierman, who had recently added Gerontology to his title as card-carrying geriatrician, and the 5th edition was published in 2003.
head of the Division of Metabolism in the Department of Medicine A token of appreciation given to all contributors to the 5th edition vi-
at the University of Washington, to develop a new textbook for sually summarized this history of the Principles of Geriatric Medicine
our field to serve as a companion to Harrison’s and the first such and Gerontology : a photograph on a mouse pad of the first five vol-
American contribution in this discipline. Ed, mentor from umes standing between the book-ends that exemplify the enduring
metabolism fellowship days at the University of Washington, turned philosophy of editions of this textbook: our enduring commitment
in rapid order first to his long-time friend and colleague, Reubin An- to aging, both “successful” and “usual”(Figure 1), portraying a striv-
dres, clinical director of the Gerontology Research Center (GRC) ing runner on one end symbolizing the price and rewards of a robust
of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, to serve as senior old age while on the other end the discouraged, frail old person to
editor and soon thereafter to me, as a junior member of his division, whom much of our professional effort is devoted with heart, mind,
to join in a tripartite effort to launch the first edition of the Prin- and soul.
ciples of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. This came to fruition Now with the publication of the 6th edition in 2009 the ed-
over the next 5 years, during which I moved to Baltimore to join the itorial succession is complete as the last members of the early
Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins as vice-chairman and to boards leave with the retirement of John Blass and my “promo-
develop a new Geriatric program based principally at the East Balti- tion” to emeritus status, Jeffrey Halter assumes the reins of leader-
more (now Hopkins Bayview) campus that was the site of the GRC. ship, and three vigorous new members join to expand and broaden
And with the steady support of Jeffers and the editorial assistance the effort: Sanjay Asthana, a geriatrician with primary professional
of Ellen Hazzard, in 1985 the first edition was published, receiving expertise in the neural sciences (notably Alzheimer’s Disease and
favorable reviews and an enthusiastic reception from members of related disorders); Kevin High, an infectious disease subspecialist
our still fledgling field. with broad interests and ties in subspecialty internal medicine and
xxv
xxvi Foreword
FIGURE 1.
t
geriatrics; and Stephanie Studenski, a geriatrician and rheumatolo- To focus our information and our chapters upon the learning
gist/rehabilitation specialist. needs of those who will lead our field as it continues to evolve and
I am proud to remain associated with this tradition of excellence its scientific underpinnings become evermore secure and compre-
and I am entirely confident that the solid principles upon which this hensive: most clearly the fellows in training who will become the
textbook were founded will assuredly remain undiminished with the future practitioners, researchers, and educators in this rapidly
strong support of James Shanahan at McGraw-Hill and the leader- advancing field and whose contributions will be leveraged maxi-
ship of the board of editors of the 6th edition: mally among the broad array of students and practitioners whom
t
To publish a timely, comprehensive, state-of-the-art textbook as they instruct and with whom they collaborate.
t
an icon and practical, day-to-day tool of our discipline that is To hold our aging and elderly patients squarely in the center of
anchored in science, evidence-based medicine, and the balanced, our vision for the future of our field, for they are and always will
patient-centered practice of our specialty. be the raison d’etre of our discipline.
William R. Hazzard
2009
Preface
On behalf of the Editors, it is an honor and privilege to provide this multiple health professions and disciplines are represented among
Preface to Hazzard’s Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, 6th Edi- the authors. Two of the textbook’s editors are women, and nearly
tion. In an accompanying Foreword for the 6th edition, Bill Hazzard 30% of the lead authors of chapters, as well as many other co-authors,
provides a brief history of this textbook, which has become a main- are women.
stay of the rapidly developing field of geriatric medicine. Adding A major step forward is the online version of the 6th edition. One
to the already rich history of this book, first published in 1985, of the original goals of working with McGraw-Hill as the publisher
the 6th edition emerges renewed and vibrant. It is particularly spe- of this textbook, as described in Bill Hazzard’s Foreword, was to
cial that it is the first edition of this textbook to carry the name provide a link with Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. While
of its founding editor Bill Hazzard in its title. What we and our there have been a number of parallels with Harrison’s over previ-
publisher McGraw-Hill have done is to simply formalize the re- ous editions, the link becomes substantial with the online version
ality of the imprint that Bill Hazzard has made, as the textbook of Hazzard’s Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, 6th Edition. Both
has been known informally as Hazzard’s Textbook already for many Harrison’s Online and Hazzard’s are part of McGraw-Hill’s Access
years. Medicine, a comprehensive online resource for medical students,
The 6th edition is substantially different from its predecessors, residents, clinicians, and researchers. In addition to Harrison’s On-
reflecting the substantial growth and increasing sophistication of line and Hazzard’s, Access Medicine includes the ability to quickly
geriatrics as a defined medical discipline. The main sections of this search across more than 50 titles from McGraw-Hill’s Clinical and
edition have been reorganized to make the sections more function- Lange Libraries. There are a number of important implications of
ally aligned. Vitality and continued rejuvenation has been enhanced our textbook becoming a part of McGraw-Hill’s Access Medicine.
through the addition of 9 new chapters: Inflammation and Aging, First, it adds a living presence to the textbook as additional material
International Gerontology, General Principles of Pharmacology, can be added as needed as online updates. We anticipate that such
Transitions (of care), Emergency Room Care, Rural Aging, Social updates will be available for many chapters of the textbook on a
Work, Psychoactive Drug Therapy, and Appropriate Antibiotic Use. regular basis. We are especially pleased that students of the health
Furthermore, we have recruited new authors for over 40% of the professions, both undergraduate and postgraduate, will have full ac-
chapters. As Bill Hazzard has outlined in his Foreword, three new cess to our textbook through the online version if they are at an
editors have played a critical role in the renewal of this textbook: institution that subscribes to Access Medicine. Finally, our authors
Sanjay Asthana. Kevin High and Stephanie Studenski. They have are no longer encumbered by page limits for the published text.
joined me (my 4th edition), Joe Ouslander (his 3rd edition) and Additional complementary material and illustrations, as well as ed-
Mary Tinetti (her 2nd edition) to make a vital new editorial team. ucational materials, can now be made available through the online
Fortunately for all of us, Bill Hazzard has stayed actively involved as edition.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Advisor. Thus just as our population is inexorably aging, and medicine is
The 6th edition acknowledges and recognizes the worldwide faced with an ever growing number of older patients with multiple
growth of the field of geriatric medicine in several ways. A distin- and complex problems, we have been able to bring together the best
guished International Advisory Board has been created; the previ- minds and leaders in the field to provide authoritative guidance,
ously mentioned, new chapter on International Gerontology sum- including a highly diverse and breadth of thinking that has not
marizes a number of important issues around the world; and we are previously existed in our textbook of geriatric medicine. We hope to
very pleased that 11 of the chapters in the 6th edition have been reach a broader audience through the availability of the electronic
written by authors who are in countries outside of the United States. version of the textbook and to keep it a living and growing document
Overall, our authors are a large and diverse group including many that encompasses the rapid stream of new information which is
geriatricians but also a substantial number of other specialists, who helping us to provide an evidence base for more effective care for
come from a range of medical and surgical disciplines. In addition our elderly population.
xxvii
xxviii Preface
Putting together a textbook of this magnitude requires enormous is made possible by the outstanding efforts of James Shanahan and
effort by many people. Again on behalf of the editors, I wish to colleagues who have ensured the progress of the publication and the
particularly thank the many chapter authors who have contributed important next steps in the textbook’s evolution. We especially ap-
to the book. Their dedication and commitment is exemplified by preciate the efforts of Nancy Woolard from Wake Forest University
Jonathan Ship, whose untimely death in 2008 is a major loss to the School of Medicine, who has served as a senior editorial assistant
field of geriatric dentistry. Jonathan wrote the Oral Cavity chapter for four previous additions. Her role has been critical to provide a
for the last three editions. Because it has become a classic, I asked strong link to our past history and as the final common pathway for
Jonathan if he would be willing to revise and update the chapter assembly of the 6th edition. We also wish to acknowledge the staff
for the 6th edition. We both knew that he had a terminal diagnosis that provided support for editorial efforts from our academic offices.
and would not likely live to see the final publication. However, I was These include Jane Harlow and Beverly Williams at the University
not surprised when Jonathan immediately accepted the invitation to of Michigan, Jane Mallory at Yale University, Lori Hasse at the Uni-
revise his chapter, which he did with his usual vigorous and thorough versity of Wisconsin, Sheila Rutledge at Wake Forest University, and
effort. A little bit of Jonathan thus lives on in the 6th edition. Susan Ratliff at Emory University.
The editors also greatly appreciate the strong and effective work-
ing relationship that we have with McGraw-Hill. This relationship
I
PART
PRINCIPLES OF
GERONTOLOGY
This page intentionally left blank
1
CHAPTER
Aging is the process that converts young adults, most of them healthy test molecular ideas about the basis for the retardation of the aging
and in no need of assistance from physicians, into older adults whose process.
deteriorating physiological fitness leads to progressively increasing
risks of illness and death. The effects of aging are so familiar to health
professionals and aging adults that it is viewed by both parties as
WHAT IS AGING?
something immutable, taken for granted, an arena in which diseases
and their treatments take place, but not itself subject to intervention This question—what is aging?—is posed not as an invitation to se-
or modulation. The major discovery in biogerontology, gradually mantic quibbling, but to initiate reexamination of facts so familiar
emerging from decades of work in animal model systems, is that this that they are seldom examined. A case history of an individual who
old-fashioned viewpoint is wrong, and that the aging process can has mild arthritis, some loss of hearing acuity, some evidence of
be delayed or decelerated in mammals, built very much like human incipient cataract, loss of muscle mass and strength, a progressive
beings, by simple manipulations of nutritional signals and genetic decline in capacity for aerobic exercise, troubles with learning and
circuits similar to those already well-documented in people. It is now remembering, and an increased vulnerability to infectious illness
absolutely routine to extend lifespan, in rats and mice, by about 40%, would lead any physician to assume that the individual described
i.e., about 10 times the increase in active life expectancy that would is a man or woman of 60 or more years of age. But the list of signs
ensue from a complete elimination of all neoplastic illnesses, or all and symptoms refers with equal accuracy to a 20-year-old horse,
heart attacks, in a human population. It thus seems plausible that or a 10-year-old dog, or a 2-year-old mouse. The specific list of
a more detailed understanding of the factors that determine aging deficits and impairments shifts a bit from person to person, and
and the processes by which aging increases the risk of such a wide from species to species, but it is extremely rare to find an 80-year-
range of lethal and nonlethal illnesses and disabilities could, in the old person, or 3-year-old mouse, or 14-year-old dog that has avoided
foreseeable future, have a profound impact on preventive medicine. all of these age-associated problems. The aging process is synchro-
Aging is a mystery, in the same sense that infectious disease was nized, in that it is common to see all of these difficulties in older
once a mystery, and consciousness still is: an area of investigation people, horses, dogs, and mice, but rare to encounter any of them
in which well-informed researchers cannot really be confident that in young adults just past puberty. This synchrony, though entirely
they have selected a line of investigation bound to be productive. familiar to schoolchildren, physicians, and scientists alike, is the cen-
Until recently, most published papers in biogerontology journals tral challenge in biological gerontology: how is it that such a process
consisted of descriptions of the ways in which young mice, rats, or affects so many cells, tissues, organs and systems at a rate that varies,
people differed from older ones, originally in terms of anatomy and even among mammals, over a 100-fold range from the shortest lived
physiology, as indicated by levels of enzymes or hormones, and more shrews to the longest lived whales? Structural features of shrews,
recently by exhaustive catalogs of protein and mRNA levels. This mice, dogs, and people are remarkably similar at scales from the ar-
descriptive era is gradually being superseded by one focused on spe- rangement of DNA and histones in the nucleus, to the architecture
cific molecular hypotheses about the key factors that regulate aging. of the kidney, heart, and thymus, to the role of the central nervous
The foundation of this modern approach to the biology of aging was system (CNS) and endocrine systems in regulating responses to heat
the development of genetic models and nutritional manipulations and cold, hunger and thirst, infection, and predators. Why, then, in
which could delay aging, and the exploitation of this leverage to molecular terms, will the eye, kidney, immune system, brain, and
4 PART I / Principles of Gerontology
joints of a mouse last only 2 to 3 years under optimal conditions, aging, it has seemed implausible to regard aging as less complex than
while the same cells and organs and systems persevere for 50 or more its (apparent) constituents. Considering aging as a process, rather
years in people, and longer still in some species of whales? than a collection of complex processes, has thus seemed to be an
The definition proposed at the beginning of this chapter—aging oversimplification.
as a process for turning young adults into distinctly less healthy old However, two lines of evidence support the merits of the view of
ones—is straightforward enough to appear simple-minded, but in aging as a unitary process, with its own (still ill-defined) physiological
practice draws some prominent distinctions. In this view, aging is not and molecular basis, which underlies and tends to synchronize the
a disease: Diseases are certainly among the most salient consequences multiple changes seen in older individuals. The first of these discov-
of aging, but aging produces many changes not classified as diseases, eries was caloric restriction: The observation that rodents allowed to
and many diseases also affect young people. Similarly, lifespan and eat only 60% of the amount of food they would voluntarily consume
mortality risks are influenced by many factors besides aging. Thus, would live 40% longer than controls permitted free access to food.
evidence that a gene or diet or public health measure has altered This observation, first made by McCay in the 1930s, has now been
life expectancy, upwards or downwards, does not imply that the repeated in more than a dozen species in scores of laboratories, and
effects have been achieved by an effect on aging. In the context of ongoing studies in rhesus monkeys have now produced preliminary,
the whole organism definition of aging used in this chapter, it is but highly suggestive, evidence that similar benefits may accrue in
hard to interpret the meaning of changes that occur as individual our own order of mammals. The key point is not merely that lifes-
cells “age” in tissue culture. While cell culture studies can provide pan is extended, but that nearly all of the consequences of aging are
valuable information of great relevance to ideas about aging, the two coordinately delayed. Caloric restriction delays changes in cells that
processes are likely to be fundamentally different. proliferate continuously (such as gut epithelial cells), cells that can
From a biological standpoint, a critical distinction is the differ- be triggered to proliferate when called upon (such as lymphocytes),
ence between aging and development. Development creates a healthy and those that never proliferate (such as most neurons), as well as
young adult from a fertilized egg, and is strongly molded by natural on tissues that are extracellular or acellular (such as lens tissue and
selection. Genetic mutations that impair development, creating a extracellular collagen fibrils). It delays aspects of aging characterized
slower falcon, a near-sighted chipmunk, or a chimpanzee uninter- by excess proliferation, such as neoplasias, and those characterized by
ested in social cues, are rapidly weeded from the gene pool. But the failure to proliferate (such as immune senescence). It delays or decel-
force of natural selection diminishes dramatically at ages that are erates age change at the tissue level (such as degradation of articular
seldom reached. Mice, for example, typically live only 6 months or cartilage) and those involving complex interplay among multiple
so in the wild, before they succumb to predation, starvation, or other cells and tissues (such as loss of cognitive function and endocrine
natural hazard. There is strong selective pressure against mutations control circuits). Because caloric restriction alters, in parallel, so vast
that cause cataracts in the first few months of mouse life, but little or an array of age-associated changes, it seems inescapable that these
no pressure against genotypes that postpone cataract formation for many changes, distinct as they are, must be in some measure timed,
2 years. Mice protected, in a laboratory setting, against predation, i.e., synchronized by a mechanism altered by caloric intake.
starvation, and other risks typically do develop cataracts in their A second, more recent, set of experiments leads to the same in-
second or third year. In wolves, however, a genotype that delayed ference. In 1996, Bartke and his colleagues showed that Ames dwarf
cataracts for only 2 years would be a disaster; natural selection favors mice, in which a developmental defect in the pituitary impairs pro-
wolf genes that preserve lens transparency for a decade or more. A duction of growth hormone (GH), thyrotropin, and prolactin, had
similar process, working on our ancestors in environments where an increase of more than 40% in both mean and maximal lifes-
survival to 15 was common, but survival to 55 distinctly uncom- pan compared to littermates with the normal allele at the same lo-
mon, has filled our own genome with alleles that postpone cancer, cus. Since then studies of this mutant, and the closely similar Snell
osteoarthritis, coronary disease, Alzheimer’s, presbycusis, cataracts, dwarf, have documented delay in kidney pathology, arthritis, cancer,
sarcopenia, immune senescence, and many other familiar maladies, immune senescence, collagen cross-linking, cataracts, and cognitive
for about 50 to 60 years. Thus, although aging and development decline, making a strong case that these genetic changes in endocrine
seem, superficially, to be similar processes in that both lead to changes levels do indeed modulate the aging process as a whole, with con-
in form and function, they are different in a fundamental and critical sequent delay in a very wide range of age-synchronized pathology.
way: Development is molded directly by the forces of Darwinian se- Since 1996, mouse researchers have documented increased lifespan
lection and the changes of aging are the consequence of the failure of in at least nine other mutations, of which five others, like the Ames
these selective processes to preserve function at ages seldom reached and Snell mutations, lead to lower levels of or responses to GH
by individuals in any given species. and/or its mediator insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I).
These observations, on calorically restricted (CR) rodents and
now also in mutant mice, justify a sea change in thinking about
Aging as a Coordinated, Malleable Process
aging and its relationship to disease. The new framework includes
The definition of aging as a process that turns young adults into old two key tenets: (1) the aging process, despite the complexity of its
ones conflicts with a view of aging as instead a collection of pro- many effects, can usefully be considered as a single, coordinating
cesses, some that lead to arterial disease, some that affect endocrine mechanism and (2) the rate at which aging progresses can be decel-
function, some that impair cognition or cause neoplastic transfor- erated in mammals as well as in other taxa. From this perspective,
mation, etc. Because each of these ailments is itself the outcome of a fundamental challenge to biogerontologists is to develop and test
a complex interaction among many factors, including genes, diet, models of how age-dependent changes are themselves coregulated,
accidents, viruses, toxins, antibiotics, and physicians, and because during middle age, to produce old people or old mice or old worms.
each of these diseases, and many others, seems an inextricable part of Studies of the aged, as opposed to studies of aging, are relevant to this
CHAPTER 1 / Biology of Aging and Longevity 5
challenge only insofar as they are exploited to generate or test ideas has already been implicated in control of cell death in human and
about coregulation and synchrony, rather than ideas about disease- rodent cells, and studies of the role of FoxO family members in aging
specific pathogenesis. The key resource for meeting the challenge is are under way. A second family of proteins, the sirtuins, was initially
not comparisons between young and old donors, but rather com- implicated in lifespan regulation in studies of the budding yeast
parisons between young or middle-aged adults who are known to be Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but then shown also to be able to increase
aging at different rates. Fortunately, the same experiments that have lifespan in nematode worms. There is some evidence that members
documented the malleability of aging rate have done so by producing of the sirtuin family may contribute to the improved health and
sets of animals that do indeed age at normal or slower-than-normal longevity of mice on a calorie-restricted diet, and interest in these
paces. With luck, future studies may produce at least tentative an- proteins has been spurred by observations that median lifespan of
swers to the two key questions in biogerontology: How does aging mice on a diet high in saturated fat can be increased significantly
produce the signs and symptoms of aging and what controls the rate by resveratrol, whose many biochemical effects include stimulation
of this process in mammals? of sirtuin activity. Work with invertebrates has also brought new
attention to the possible role of TOR, the “target of rapamycin,”
in control of lifespan and responses to dietary interventions. TOR
Key Themes from Studies of Invertebrate Models
plays a major role, conserved throughout the evolutionary tree, in
Four main ideas have emerged, in the period 1990–2008, from regulating protein translation rates in response to both external cel-
studies of genetically convenient invertebrate models, the nema- lular stress and the available supply of amino acids. TOR inhibition
tode worm Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila by rapamycin is a mainstay of clinical immunosuppressive therapy
melanogaster. (1) Single gene mutations—lots of them—can extend after organ transplantation, and TOR inhibitors also show promise
lifespan in worms and flies (and mice). Most mutations discovered so as antineoplastic agents. Other molecular circuits, including those
far are “loss of function,” in which eliminating or crippling the gene triggered by the p66 (shc) protein, the tumor-suppressor p53, and
product leads to slower aging and lifespan extension. (2) The genes the stress-responsive kinase JNK, were initially discovered through
whose elimination slows aging are typically those used by the normal work with rodents and now are also being examined in the context
animal to notice and respond to environmental poverty; they are se- of invertebrate models for aging. Each of these biochemical path-
lected, by evolution, to permit the animal to take on alternate forms ways has powerful and still only partially defined links to hormonal
or functions to deal with the relative absence of nutritional con- signals, neoplastic transformation, stem cell homeostasis, and the
ditions optimal for rapid growth and reproduction. Many of these balance between cell growth and cell death, so their elucidation is
genes are familiar to physicians and biological scientists: they encode likely to provide both rationale and direction for translational work
insulin, insulin-like growth factors, possibly thyroid hormones, and aimed at slowing the aging process and retarding age-related disease
other regulators of fuel usage and metabolic fluxes, as well as the and dysfunction.
intracellular proteins that change cell properties in response to these
hormones. (3) The mutations that extend lifespan in worms and
Delayed Aging in Mice and Rats
flies (and perhaps in mice) render the animals more resistant to
lethal injury, such as that resulting from heavy metals, ultraviolet ir-
Caloric Restriction
radiation, heat, oxidizing agents, and chemicals that damage DNA.
It thus seems plausible that augmentations of stress resistance are Mice or rats fed approximately 30% or 40% less food than they
the mechanism by which these mutant genes slow aging. (4) This would ordinarily consume typically live up to 40% longer than freely
three-way association, connecting aging to stress to signals about fed animals. These CR animals stay healthy and active, with good
nutrition, has very deep evolutionary roots and can be noted (albeit physical, sensory, and cognitive function, at ages at which most of
with species-specific nuances) in yeast, flies, worms, and mice. The the controls have already died. The intervention extends lifespan if
suggestion here is that the pathways tying nutrition to stress to aging initiated at very young ages (e.g., at weaning), or when started early
rate evolved extremely early in the eukaryotic lineage, in an ancestor in adulthood (e.g., at 6 months, in a species where puberty occurs
predating the branch points between yeast, flies, worms, and verte- at 2 months and median survival is about 28 months). Whether CR
brates. The key implication is that investigations into the cell biology diets extend lifespan when initiated in animals already older than
of these linked processes in conveniently short-lived organisms may half the median lifespan is controversial, with some early studies
provide valuable insights into aging and disease in humans. suggesting little or no response, and some more recent experiments
leading to a positive result. Lifespan can be extended using CR di-
ets of widely varying composition, and there is strong evidence that
Molecular Leads for Further Study
total caloric intake, rather than proportions of specific fuel sources
Studies of the invertebrate model systems have also called attention (carbohydrates, fats, proteins), is responsible for the beneficial ef-
to a range of intracellular pathways that influence longevity, per- fects. CR diets do not, except in the first few months after their
haps through regulation of resistance to a variety of forms of lethal imposition, alter metabolic rate or oxygen consumption per gram of
and metabolic stress. Components of these pathways are now under lean body mass because CR rodents lose weight, or if adolescent fail
scrutiny to see if they also affect aging and disease in rodents. Many to gain weight, so that lean body mass matches calorie supply once
of the antiaging mutations in worms, for example, act by increasing equilibrium is established. Although CR rodents are less obese than
the actions of a DNA-binding factor called Daf-16, whose targets control animals, it seems unlikely that the effect of CR diets on aging
include genes that modulate resistance to oxidative damage, DNA is caused entirely by avoidance of obesity, in part because CR diets
repair, and other modes of cellular defense. The mammalian equiva- extend lifespan in mice genetically engineered to lack leptin (ob/ob
lent to Daf-16, a member of the FoxO group of transcription factors, mice). When placed on a CR diet, ob/ob mice are both longer lived
6 PART I / Principles of Gerontology
and more obese than normal mice with normal caloric intake. There of hormones in the insulin/IGF family, i.e., the same family of signals
is some evidence that CR diets can delay at least some aspects of implicated in lifespan extension in worms and (later) flies, provided a
aging, for example, changes in immune function, in nonobese rhe- key foundation for exploiting comparative cell biology in biogeron-
sus monkeys, but definitive evidence, based on lifespan data, is not tology research. Subsequent work then showed that similar degrees
yet available. of lifespan extension could be seen in Snell dwarf mice, whose en-
Mice and rats on CR diets show delay or deceleration in a very docrine defects are very similar to those of Ames dwarfs, and also
wide range of age-dependent processes, including neoplastic and in mice that lack the GH receptor (GHR-KO mice) (Figure 1-1).
nonneoplastic diseases, changes in structure and function of nearly This last observation, together with documented lifespan extension
all tissues and organs evaluated, endocrine and neural control cir- in mice lacking GH-releasing hormone receptor (GHRHR) and in
cuits, and ability to adapt to metabolic, infectious, and cardiovascular mice with diminished expression of the IGF-I receptor (IGF1R het-
challenges. Mouse stocks that have been engineered for vulnerability erozygotes), suggested strongly that a common factor, i.e., low pro-
to specific lethal diseases, such as models of lupus or early neopla- duction of or response to IGF-I, is a major cause of lifespan extension
sia, also tend to live longer when placed on a CR diet. Intensive in all five models, although it is certainly possible that other factors,
study of CR rodents in the past 20 years has suggested many ideas such as altered insulin sensitivity, thyroid tonicity, adipokine levels,
about the mechanism of its effects, including ideas about altered etc., may contribute to antiaging effects in some of these mouse
levels and responses to glucocorticoids and/or insulin, increases in models. Male and female mice are affected by each of these muta-
stress-resistance pathways including resistance to oxidative injury, di- tions except that the effect of the IGF1R mutation seems stronger
minished inflammatory responses, changes in stem cell self-renewal, in females than in males. Mice in which tissue levels of IGF-I are
and many others, each plausible, none of them at this point more reduced by genetic manipulation of a protease that controls local
than plausible. Further work on the early and midterm effects of concentrations of IGF-I binding proteins are also long-lived, again
CR diets is among the most attractive avenues for testing basic ideas consistent with models in which abnormally low IGF-I levels cause
about aging in mammals. lifespan extension in mice. Studies of Snell and Ames dwarf mice
have shown that the exceptional longevity of these mice is accom-
panied by a delay or deceleration of age-dependent changes in T
Methionine-Restricted Diets
lymphocytes, skin collagen, renal pathology, lens opacity, cognitive
Rats fed a diet containing much reduced levels of the essential amino function, and neoplastic progression; taken with the lifespan data,
acid methionine were shown, in 1993, to live 40% longer than rats, these observations suggest strongly that these mutations, like the CR
on a standard diet, and more recent work has shown a similar, though diet, act to slow the aging process itself.
smaller, effect on mice. These animals are not calorically restricted— In addition to the six mutations that lead to lower levels of IGF-I
they eat more calories, per gram of lean body mass, than control rats, signals, there are now five other mutations that have been shown,
and rats pair-fed normal food at levels that match the total caloric in each case in a single unreplicated report, to extend lifespan in
intake of a methionine-restricted (MR) rat show a much smaller de- mice. Table 1-1 presents a summary of these 11 published mutations
gree of lifespan extension. MR diets could, in principle, affect aging that extend maximal lifespan in mice. Transgenic overexpression of
by causing changes in protein translation or rate of protein turnover, urokinase-type plasminogen activator in the brain has been reported
by changes in DNA methylation (which depends upon metabolites to produce a significant extension of lifespan, perhaps by suppression
of methionine), by alterations in levels or distribution of the an- of appetite with consequent mimicry of a CR diet. Mice in which
tioxidant glutathione (also a metabolite of methionine), by changes the insulin receptor has been inactivated specifically in adipose tissue
in hormone levels (MR mice show low levels of insulin, glucose, show an 18% lifespan increase, consistent with the idea that altered
and insulin-like growth factor 1, IGF-I), or by induction, through insulin sensitivity or adipokine levels might play a role in aging rate
hormesis, of augmented stress response pathways at the cellular level. in this species. Transgenic mice overexpressing the klotho protein,
Some of these ideas could be tested using diets that restrict levels of a cofactor for fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signals whose absence
other amino acids, and there is older, fragmentary evidence that such leads to early death by elevation of vitamin D levels, have been re-
diets, too, may induce lifespan extension in rodents. MR is thus the ported to live 19% to 31% longer than controls, perhaps reflecting
second confirmed method for extending lifespan in mammals and the ability of klotho to block insulin or IGF-I signals. A mutation
comparisons of similarities and differences between CR and MR that inactivates the 66 kDa splice variant of the Shc protein, in-
rodents are likely to prove highly informative. volved in the pathway to programmed cell death after exposure to
hydrogen peroxide or ultraviolet light, also extends longevity (by
about 28%), as does transgenic overexpression, in mitochondria, of
Single-Gene Mutations That Extend Mouse Lifespan
catalase, an enzyme involved in detoxification of hydrogen perox-
The initial reports in the 1980s and 1990s that mutations of single ide (a 20% lifespan increase). These last two reports, if confirmed
genes in worms, and then in flies, could produce dramatic increases in other laboratories, may give new insights into the connections
in lifespan were the strongest support, along with the CR data, for linking aging and late-life diseases to agents that damage DNA or
viewing aging as a unitary process that could be decelerated. The induce oxidative injury at intracellular sites.
report in 1996 by Bartke and his colleagues that the lifespan of mice More work is needed to determine to what extent these mutations
could be extended more than 40% by mutation of a gene required influence common pathways, to see whether they do or do not influ-
for pituitary development opened the door to new genetic models ence aging through the same mechanism. It is possible, for example,
for study of aging in mammals. This Ames dwarf gene (Prop1) leads that some of these mutations diminish risk of cancer, a common
to an endocrine syndrome featuring low levels of growth hormone cause of death in many inbred mouse strains, without effect on any
(GH), IGF-I, thyrotropins and the thyroxines, and prolactin. The other age-dependent trait, while others may modulate the effects
observation that longevity in mice could be improved by reduction of aging on multiple organ systems, thus diminishing mortality risk
CHAPTER 1 / Biology of Aging and Longevity 7
A B
C D
FIGURE 1-1. (A) A young adult Snell dwarf mouse, with a littermate control (on the vehicle). (B) Survival curves for Snell dwarf (dw/dw) mice and littermate
controls. (C) Glomerular basement pathology scores, at terminal necropsy, for Snell dwarf (N = 40) and control (N = 46) mice. Higher scores indicate a
greater degree of kidney pathology. Despite living 40% longer, a higher percent of Snell dwarfs had 0 scores at necropsy and a smaller percent had scores
of 2 or 3. (D) Cataract scores determined by slit lamp examination in Snell dwarf and littermate control mice at 18 and 24 months of age. p < 0.001
for the difference between dwarfs and controls at each age. (B) Data from Flurkey K, Papaconstantinou J, Miller RA, Harrison DE. Lifespan extension and
delayed immune and collagen aging in mutant mice with defects in growth hormone production. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001;98(12):6736–6741. (C
and D) Data from Vergara M, Smith-Wheelock M, Harper JM, Sigler R, Miller RA. Hormone-treated Snell dwarf mice regain fertility but remain long-lived
and disease resistant. J Gerontol Biol Sci. 2004;59:1244–1250.
from both neoplastic and nonneoplastic diseases. There are hints, for that the effects are at least partly additive. The survival curves in Fig-
example, that CR diets and the Ames dwarf gene may affect longevity ure 1-2 also suggest that the Ames dwarf mutation may be affecting
by different mechanisms. As shown in Figure 1-2, caloric restriction the age at which deaths begin to occur (“delay” of aging), and that
extends lifespan in normal as well as in dwarf mice, and the Ames the CR diet may affect, instead, the rate at which deaths occur once
mutation extends lifespan on both CR and control diets, showing mortality risks become detectable (“deceleration” of aging). Dwarf
TABLE 1-1
Mouse Mutants That Improve Longevity
Ames dwarf (df), Prop1 50 Low GH, IGF-I, thyrotropin, thyroxine, prolactin
Snell dwarf (dw), Pit 42 Low GH, IGF-I, thyrotropin, thyroxine, prolactin
GHRHR (lit, little) 23 Low GH, IGF-I
Survival increase on low-fat diet only
GHR-KO 42 Low IGF-I
IGF-I receptor 26 Heterozygous mice; significant only in females only
Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, PAPP-A 38 Protease for IGF-I binding proteins
Klotho transgenic 19–31 Impairs insulin and IGF-I signals
Insulin receptor; FIRKO 18 Receptor diminished in adipose cells only
Shc-66 28 Lower apoptosis after UV, H2 O2
Urokinase-type plasminogen activator, uPA 18 Transgenic, expressed in brain; may suppress appetite.
Catalase transgenic, MCAT 19 Overexpression in mitochondria only
FIRKO, fat-specific insulin receptor knockout; GH, growth hormone; GHRHR, growth hormone–releasing hormone receptor; GHR-KO, growth hormone receptor knockout; IGF-I, insulin-like growth factor I;
MCAT, mitochondria-specific catalase transgenic; PAPP-A, pregnancy-associated plasma protein A; UV = ultraviolet; Pit-1, POU domain, class 1, transcription factor 1; Prop-1, prophet of Pit-1; Shc-66, 66
kDa splicing isoform of Src homology 2 domain containing transforming protein 1.
8 PART I / Principles of Gerontology
mouse stocks bred by selection for slow early life growth trajectory
are found to be smaller than controls and also longer-lived. There
is also highly suggestive evidence for a similar relationship between
IGF-I, body size, and lifespan in dogs and horses. For dogs, several
studies have shown greater longevity in small-size breeds than in
large breeds, and a strong relationship between body size and life
expectancy among mixed-breed (mongrel) dogs as well (Figure 1-3).
Anecdotal and limited published data suggest that pony breeds of
horses are also substantially longer lived than horses of full-sized
breeds. The relationship between body size and life expectancy in
humans is complicated by the strong effects of socioeconomic sta-
tus on both endpoints: wealthier people tend to be both taller and
longer-lived than poor people. On the whole, tall stature is associated
with lower mortality risks from cardiovascular diseases, which are a
FIGURE 1-2. Survival curves for genetically normal (wild-type [WT]) or major cause of mortality in developed countries. In contrast, a re-
Ames dwarf (df) mice on caloric-restricted diet (CR) or on unrestricted ad libi- markably consistent set of studies (Table 1-2) show that tall stature
tum (AL) food intake. Each symbol represents a mouse dying at the indicated
age. The dwarf mice live longer than the WT mice on either diet, and the CR
is associated with significantly higher mortality risk from a wide
diet extends the life span of mice of either genotype. Reproduced with per- range of neoplastic diseases. There is also limited data that cente-
mission from Bartke A, Wright JC, Mattison JA, Ingram DK, Miller RA, Roth, narians, on average, were shorter as mature adults than those who
GS. Extending the lifespan of long-lived mice. Nature. 2001;414:412. do not attain centenarian status. Testing the idea that short midlife
stature is associated with delayed or decelerated aging in humans
will depend on measuring a wide range of age-dependent traits,
and CR mice also differ dramatically in adiposity (CR mice are ex- rather than merely lifespan, on large populations of middle-aged
tremely lean; dwarf mice have average or above-average proportions people.
of fat), and in resistance to liver toxicity induced by acetaminophen
poisoning. Analysis of the mechanisms by which each of the muta-
Stress Resistance and Aging
tions shown in Table 1-1 affects lifespan and age-dependent traits
will help to sort out questions about whether initial mortality rate Mutations that extend lifespan in invertebrates typically render the
and mortality rate doubling time are under separate physiological animals resistant to multiple forms of lethal injury, whether the
control. threat comes from oxidative agents, heat, heavy metals, or irra-
As Table 1-1 suggests, the evidence from mice indicates that diation. Indeed, this stress resistance seems likely to represent the
diminution of IGF-I levels, either in early life, adult life, or per- mechanism by which these mutations delay the aging process. Thus
haps both, can create mice that are long-lived compared to controls. presumably much of the cellular and extracellular pathology that
The association has also been noted using experimental designs in produces dysfunction and increases mortality risk in older animals
which individual mice are tested for IGF-I levels as young adults: is held in abeyance by the same, poorly defined, defenses that permit
those mice with the lowest IGF-I levels were found to live signifi- nematodes and flies to survive when exposed to external stress in an
cantly longer than those with higher IGF-I concentrations. Similarly, experimental setting. Genetic dissection of the relevant pathways has
A B
FIGURE 1-3. Longevity, size, and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels among breeds of purebred dogs. Left panel shows mean breed lifespan as a
function of mean breed weight for each of 16 breeds of dogs; three breeds are indicated by arrows. Data from Li Y, Deeb B, Pendergrass W, Wolf N.
Cellular proliferative capacity and life span in small and large dogs. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 1996;51(6):B403–B408. Right panel shows mean
plasma IGF-I levels as a function of body mass in eight breeds of purebred dogs. For details and citations see Miller and Austad. Growth and aging: why
do big dogs die young? In: Masoro EJ, Austad, SN, eds. Handbook of the Biology of Aging. 6th ed., New York, New York: Academic Press; 2006.
CHAPTER 1 / Biology of Aging and Longevity 9
TABLE 1-2
Population-Based Association Between Short-Stature and Lower Mortality Risk for Multiple Neoplastic Diseases
shown, surprisingly, that in normal, nonmutant worms, the levels of by cadmium, peroxide, heat, a DNA alkylating agent (MMS), ul-
stress resistance, and thus resistance to aging, are actively diminished traviolet light, and paraquat (which induces mitochondrial damage
by specific DNA-binding transcription factors. These factors, whose by free radical generation). Mice prepared by CR or MR diets are
human homologs are members of the FoxO family, are retained by resistant to liver damage induced by the oxidative hepatotoxin ac-
evolutionary pressures because they provide reproductive advantages etaminophen, and long-lived mutant mice are somewhat more re-
in the natural environment, in which animals must be able to quickly sistant to death induced by paraquat injection. Stress resistance also
take advantage of transient access to nutrients. Genetic inactivation seems to play a role in evolution of long-lived species in that cells
of these FoxO pathways in the laboratory produces mutant animals from long-lived rodents and other mammals are resistant in culture
that are not ideally suited for natural conditions, but which are resis- to several forms of oxidative and nonoxidative damage. This work
tant to many kinds of stress and which age more slowly than normal. provides initial support for models that attribute variations in aging
Studies of gene expression patterns in the long-lived mutant worms rate to differences in stress resistance pathways, but many questions
have shown that the FoxO proteins can trigger transcription of over remain unanswered at this early stage. Figure 1-4 shows representa-
100 genes that together protect against many different forms of cel- tive results for resistance to stress in long-lived mutant worms and
lular damage. The list includes enzymes that destroy free radicals, cells from long-lived mutant mice, as well as data on resistance of
heat shock proteins, and other chaperones that guard against mis- CR and MR mice to an oxidative hepatotoxin. Figure 1-5 presents
folded proteins, proteins that protect against infection, and chelating data from two studies showing stress resistance in culture of cells
agents that bind toxic metal ions, among others. from longer-lived mammalian species.
The connection between induction of these stress-resistance path-
ways and late-life diseases has been shown by two sets of informative
Genetic Approaches to Analysis of Aging in Humans
experiments. In the first, genetically identical worms were exposed
to a brief, nonlethal heat stress, and physically separated into those Attempts to find genetic variations that influence aging in humans
that showed a strong response of chaperone proteins and those that have been plagued with practical and conceptual problems in ad-
did not. Worms with the most robust response to transient stress dition to the obvious difficulty that selection of mating partners is
were found to be longer lived than those with lower stress responses. not amenable to experimental control. For one thing, heritability
A second approach involved worms bearing genetic variants that calculations show that only about 15% to 20% of the variation in
cause aggregation of proteins and neurodegeneration (Huntington’s lifespan among humans can be attributed to genetic factors. Fur-
disease) in people; neurological dysfunction in these worms can thermore, an unknown but potentially large fraction of this genetic
be delayed, and in some cases prevented entirely, by augmenta- variation probably reflects genetic variants that influence susceptibil-
tion of the FoxO-dependent stress-resistance pathways. Similarly, ity to diseases of childhood, infectious agents, and specific common
age-dependent increases in susceptibility to stress-induced cardiac illnesses of old age. For example, genetic variants that cause Hunt-
arrhythmias in Drosophila can be significantly postponed by activa- ington’s disease or type 1 diabetes or which triple the normal risk of
tion of FoxO-dependent protective pathways. myocardial infarction by the age of 50 years would all contribute to
Studies of the relationship of stress resistance to aging in mam- the measured heritability of lifespan, but do so by altering mortality
mals are underway, but suggestive data have begun to emerge. Both risks from a specific form of illness rather than by alteration of aging
CR diets and at least some of the long-lived endocrine mutant stocks with its effects on multiple late-life traits. Thus genetic variants that
show elevated levels of enzymes with antioxidant action, heavy metal mold lifespan by effects on aging per se, if they exist at all, are likely
chelators, and intracellular chaperone proteins, as well as have lower to influence only a small fraction of variation (perhaps 5%) in how
levels of oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids. Cells grown, long people live.
in tissue culture, from long-lived Snell and Ames dwarf mutant mice, Formal analyses of the genetics of human aging have so far re-
or from mice lacking GH receptor, are resistant to lethal injury caused lied mostly on candidate gene approaches, in which the investigator
10 PART I / Principles of Gerontology
C D
FIGURE 1-4. Association of stress resistance to longevity. (A) Resistance to heat shock (thermotolerance) is higher in mutant worms that have extended
longevity. Each point is the mean for one mutant strain. (B) Resistance of skin-derived fibroblasts to lethal hydrogen peroxide concentrations is higher in cells
from Ames dwarf (df/df) mice compared to controls. Each symbol shows an individual mouse. (C) Hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) resistance of skin-derived
fibroblasts from long-lived growth hormone receptor knock out (GHRKO) mice. LD50 is the amount of peroxide that kills 50% of the cells. (D) Resistance of
calorie-restricted (Cal-R) mice to liver injury induced by injection of acetaminophen (APAP); serum LDH levels indicate the level of damage to hepatocytes at
varying intervals after a single injection (unpublished data of Chang and Miller). (A) Reproduced with permission from Gems D, Sutton AJ, Sundermeyer
ML, et al. Two pleiotropic classes of daf-2 mutation affect larval arrest, adult behavior, reproduction and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics.
1998;150:129–155. (B and C) Reproduced with permission from Salmon AB, Murakami S, Bartke A, Kopchick J, Yasumura K, Miller RA. Fibroblast cell
lines from young adult mice of long-lived mutant strains are resistant to multiple forms of stress. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2005;289(1):E23–E29.
A B
FIGURE 1-5. Stress resistance in fibroblasts from animals of long-lived species. Left panel: Resistance of cultured skin fibroblasts to hydrogen peroxide
as a function of species maximum lifespan in years. Species, from left to right, are hamster, rat, rabbit, sheep, pig, cow, and human. Reproduced with
permission from Kapahi P, Boulton ME, Kirkwood TB. Positive correlation between mammalian life span and cellular resistance to stress. Free Radic Biol
Med. 1999;26(5–6):495–500. Right panel: Resistance of cultured skin fibroblasts to cadmium as a function of species maximum lifespan in years. Species,
left to right, are laboratory mouse, wild-caught mouse, rat, red squirrel, white-footed mouse, deer mouse, fox squirrel, porcupine, beaver, and little brown
bat. LD50 is the amount of hydrogen peroxide or cadmium that kills 50% of the cells. Reproduced with permission from Harper JM, Salmon AB, Leiser SF,
Galecki AT, Miller RA. Skin-derived fibroblasts from long-lived species are resistant to some, but not all, lethal stresses and to the mitochondrial inhibitor
rotenone. Aging Cell. 2007;6:1–13.
CHAPTER 1 / Biology of Aging and Longevity 11
evaluates long-lived and control populations for variations at one elderly people in some ways: they frequently suffer from cataracts and
or a small number of genetic loci, selected on theoretical grounds premature graying of the hair, and by their early thirties often develop
as most likely to be involved in aging or disease processes. The osteoporosis, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. On the other hand, many
alternate approach, whole genome screening of large populations for features of normal aging are not seen in Werner’s patients and many
association of longevity to hundreds of thousands of genetic variants, features of Werner’s syndrome are not seen in normal old individu-
is also beginning to produce initial results at an accelerating pace. als. Werner’s syndrome patients, for example, do not show signs of
Although most of the published studies, and those in progress, focus Alzheimer’s disease or other amyloidoses, hypertension, or immune
on nuclear genes, there are tantalizing suggestions from studies of failure. Mesenchymal tumors, which are rare in normal people, are
large families that a surprisingly high proportion of inherited effects about 100-fold more frequent in Werner’s patients, but the epithelial
on lifespan may come through the maternal line alone, suggesting and hematopoietic tumors characteristic of normal aging are not seen
that variations in mitochondrial gene sequences (which are inherited in Werner’s syndrome patients. Furthermore, Werner’s patients ex-
almost entirely from mothers to both sons and daughters) may also hibit many features that are not seen in normal aging, including sub-
influence life expectancy in humans. cutaneous calcifications, altered fat distribution, vocal changes, flat
A major problem with all these approaches, from the perspective feet, malleolar ulcerations, high levels of urinary hyaluronic acid, and
of biological gerontology, is the lack of a defensible phenotype: a a number of other idiosyncrasies not seen commonly in elderly indi-
measure of aging better than lifespan. There are now several dozen viduals. Mice with mutations in the WRN gene live a normal lifespan
reports of candidate loci at which particular alleles are overrepre- and do not show signs of premature senescence. It seems possible that
sented among centenarians or near-centenarians, and advocates of investigation of the pathogenesis of Werner’s syndrome may provide
this strategy hope that among this collection are some loci that con- key clues to the mechanisms of age-related diseases. But it seems
trol aging rate. But skeptics note that alleles that increase risk of at least equally plausible that the WRN mutation, perhaps through
cardiac disease, or Alzheimer’s disease, or stroke, or various common alteration of cells responsible for connective tissue maintenance, in-
forms of cancer, or severe osteoporosis are likely to have contributed duces multiorgan failure through processes quite distinct from the
to disease and death before the age of 90 or 100 years, and thus to changes that impair some of the same organs in normal aging.
have been eliminated or greatly reduced among the very old. Thus
it should be assumed that a collection of genetic loci whose fre-
quency discriminates very old people from others of the same birth
AGING, CELLULAR SENESCENCE, TELOMERES,
cohort will include many genes with influence over common forms
AND CANCER
of lethal illnesses rather than genes that modulate aging per se. This
problem is not one that can be solved by technological innovation The famous observation of Hayflick that human diploid fibrob-
or larger numbers of tested subjects; it requires development of a lasts cease to grow in culture after a limited number of population
phenotype that provides more information about health in old age doublings sparked a line of experimentation that continues to yield
than merely a record of the age at death. For example, a genetic allele important insights into the molecular control of cell growth, differ-
that identified, among 70-year-old people, those most likely to have entiation, and neoplastic transformation. Human fibroblasts placed
excellent eyesight and hearing, no history of cancer, angina, diabetes, in tissue culture will continue to divide until approximately 50 cell
or arthritis, above-average responses to vaccination, and retention of doublings have occurred, after which the remaining cells can sur-
baseline levels of cognition and muscle strength would be a much vive indefinitely in a healthy but nondividing state. In the 1970s
stronger candidate for an authentic “antiaging” gene than one that and 1980s, this “clonal senescence” model seemed to be an attrac-
predicted survival to the age of 100 years. tive approach to study the genetics and cell biology of aging. It is
now clear that growth cessation of continuously passaged human
fibroblasts is caused principally by the progressive loss of telomeric
Models of Accelerated Aging
DNA at the ends of each chromosome at each mitosis. The chem-
There are a small number of rare, inherited, diseases, of which istry of DNA replication requires that duplication of the end of
Werner’s syndrome and Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome are the most each DNA molecule be conducted by a specialized enzyme com-
celebrated, that have been mooted as possible examples of “acceler- plex called telomerase, and telomeres will therefore become shorter
ated” aging. Some of the physical features and symptoms of these at each cell division except in cells, like most tumor cells, that ex-
diseases do resemble, at least superficially, some of the changes that press telomerase. The very short telomeres that eventually develop
typically affect older people, including in particular changes in skin in proliferating cells then trigger, through steps not yet fully defined,
and connective tissues. Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, sometimes expression of new genes that block further mitotic cycles but do not
called “progeria,” is now known to be caused by mutations in the lead to cell death.
gene for Lamin A, a component of the nuclear membrane. Werner’s The challenge of showing that this in vitro system can deliver
syndrome patients usually have mutations in an enzyme (“WRN”) important clues about the biology of aging, that is, about the process
that has activity as a DNA helicase (unwinding coiled DNA) and as that converts healthy young adults into old people, has remained
an endonuclease. Patients with Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome typ- a serious hurdle. The most obvious possibility is that some of the
ically survive to their early teens, and Werner’s syndrome patients diseases and disabilities of the elderly population might represent a
frequently survive to their mid-forties, about 10 years after the age loss, with age, in proliferative capacities of one or more cell types. But
of typical diagnosis. there are many reasons to be skeptical of analogies between growth
However, it is highly debatable whether either of these diseases cessation of cells in continuous culture and the complex network of
provides strong clues about the molecular or cellular basis for age- reinforcing failures that lead to aging of intact organisms. For one
related changes in normal individuals. Werner’s patients do resemble thing, aging clearly leads to dysfunction of many cell types that do
12 PART I / Principles of Gerontology
not divide at all, like neurons and skeletal muscle myocytes, and tic transformation should require development of strong antitumor
to dysfunction of extracellular structures like teeth, cartilage, and defenses not needed in smaller creatures. The average human has
lens, and it is difficult to see how clonal senescence can affect these approximately 3000 times as many cells as a mouse; if each had the
processes. Telomere erosion has been postulated to contribute to dys- same annual likelihood of neoplastic transformation as a mouse cell,
function of memory T cells in elderly subjects; but it is hard on this the annual cancer incidence in humans would be 3000 times higher
ground to explain the equally poor function, in the same subjects, of than in mice. In fact, however, humans usually avoid neoplasia over
naı̈ve memory T cells, whose telomeres are similar in old age to those a lifetime that is 30 times longer than the mouse’s lifespan; evo-
of memory cells found in young adults. In addition, there are many lution has developed strategies that reduce per cell transformation
cell types, such as intestinal crypt stem cells and hematopoietic rate by a factor of about 90 000 in evolving humans from shorter-
progenitor cells, that can divide many thousands of times over lived, smaller progenitor species. These defenses may well include
the course of a lifespan, but which nonetheless show age-related telomere-based clonal senescence responses, as well as improvements
functional decline. In addition, telomere-dependent replicative in repair of somatic mutations and reduction of intracellular levels
failure cannot be responsible for the effects of aging in mice or rats, of DNA-modifying agents. There is no reason to believe, however,
or indeed in the many other species known to have longer telomeres that evolved defenses against cancer in humans could not be further
and shorter lives than humans. If 70 years of human lifespan are just improved: similar considerations show that whale cells, for example,
sufficient to produce perceptible shortening of the 6 to 10 kilobases are about 10 000-fold more resistant than human cells to neoplastic
of human telomeres, it is hard to see how the 2 to 3 years of rodent transformation.
lifespan could have much impact on the 20 to 100 kilobases of Recent work on stem cell biology has suggested a key role for
telomeric deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) with which rats and mice a specific protein, p16/INK4a, as a mediator of the balance be-
are endowed. Furthermore, genetic manipulations have produced tween anticancer and antiaging mechanisms. INK4a is induced as
lines of mice whose telomeres are indeed at the same, short length part of the process by which cellular senescence halts cell prolif-
seen in proliferating cell types in elderly humans. While these mice eration. An increase in levels of INK4a in many tissues of aging
show specific abnormalities (skin ulceration, infertility, frequently mice, but particularly in stem cells, has suggested that senescent
lethal gastrointestinal lesions, and increased frequencies of certain stem cells may indeed accumulate as a consequence of normal aging
forms of neoplasia), they do not resemble normal aged mice in most and may represent an evolved mechanism to prevent early life neo-
respects. plasia. New evidence suggests that INK4a may lead, in parallel, to
The possibility that clonal senescence might contribute to some diminished stem cell function in the aging bone marrow, brain, and
of the signs of aging thus faces some serious obstacles, but perhaps pancreas. Mice engineered to have lower levels of INK4a have now
not insuperable ones. There is evidence that the cellular changes been shown to retain stem cell activities at ages at which these cells
(“cell senescence”) induced in human cells by overshort telomeres perform poorly in normal animals, even though the same mice are
might be triggered, in human and nonhuman cells, as a response somewhat more cancer-prone than normal controls. Interventions
to other forms of DNA damage, and it is thus possible that senes- that prevent age-related induction of INK4a might be an attractive
cent cells could accumulate, with advancing age, through different approach to diminishing many forms of late-life illness in parallel if
mechanisms in long-lived and short-lived species. Early work based the intervention did not simultaneously increase cancer risk.
on histological assays suggested that senescent cells were rare (less
than 0.1%), even in biopsies from very old donors, although new
methods for detecting other aspects of the senescent phenotype have
AGING RESEARCH AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
led to upward revisions of this estimate. It remains a challenge, how-
ever, to develop and test models to explain how properties of tis- The central rationale for biological gerontology is the hope that dis-
sues, organs, and multiorgan systems (like the brain and endocrine coveries in this field will lead to innovations in preventive medicine:
circuits) might be altered by the presence of a small admixture of an authentic antiaging drug that produced the same demographic
nondividing senescent cells. Senescent cells in vitro express a suite of changes seen in rodents on CR or MR diets would yield about 10-
secreted enzymes and cytokines that are not produced by dividing fold greater improvement in mean life expectancy than would the
fibroblasts and it is possible that these may contribute to aging at complete elimination of cancers or of myocardial infarctions (Figure
the tissue or organ level. 1-6). A detailed understanding of the molecular pathways that lead
Telomere-dependent clonal senescence does seem to play a critical to coordinated stress resistance in cells of dwarf mice, or of the ad-
role in the protection of humans from many forms of late-life cancer. justments that render CR rats resistant to autoimmune, neoplastic,
The key finding was the observation that telomerase is turned on, and and degenerative diseases, or of the evolutionary changes that per-
telomere diminution prevented or reversed, in approximately 90% mit large animals to survive cancer-free and cataract-free for many
of clinically significant human neoplasias. It thus seems likely that decades should in principle suggest avenues to preventive medical
short telomeres and stringently repressed telomerase gene expression care that could dramatically postpone disability and lethal illnesses.
evolved during the course of human evolution to protect us against Empirical testing of drugs that are thought likely to slow the ag-
fatal neoplasias that would otherwise arise early in life. Because most ing process in mice has already documented two compounds that
cancers are clonal, and each clinically significant tumor represents can extend median lifespan significantly, either in mice consuming
the outcome of several stages of selection for rare cellular variants a high-fat diet (resveratrol) or in mice consuming a normal diet
for independence from growth control, resistance to immune de- (nordihydroguiaretic acid); data on extension of maximum lifespan
fenses, and barriers to metastasis, evolution of large-bodied species, extension from these or other agents are likely to emerge in the next
with a much higher number of potential target cells for neoplas- few years.
CHAPTER 1 / Biology of Aging and Longevity 13
Genetics of Age-Dependent
Human Disease
Thomas B. L. Kirkwood
observing that if such a program did exist, what would prevent a by Williams, who suggested that genes with beneficial effects would
mutation occurring that abrogated the program and allowed the be favored by selection even if these genes had adverse effects at
mutant to survive indefinitely? The fact that such mutants are never later ages. This is known as the theory of “antagonistic pleiotropy,”
observed is empirical support that backs up the other objections. the term pleiotropy meaning that the same gene can have different
The evidence from nature is that instead of being programmed effects in different circumstances.
to die, organisms are genetically programmed to survive. However, The current synthesis of evolutionary ideas about why aging oc-
in spite of a formidable array of survival mechanisms, most species curs can thus be summarized in four points:
appear not to be programmed well enough to last indefinitely. A 1. There are no specific genes for aging.
key to understanding why this should be so, and what governs how
long a survival period there should be, comes from studying survival 2. Genes of particular importance for aging and longevity are those
patterns in wild populations. If 90% of wild mice are dead by the governing durability and maintenance of the soma.
10 months, any investment in programming for survival much be- 3. There may exist other genetically determined trade-offs between
yond this point can benefit at most 10% of the population. This benefits to young organisms and their viability at older ages.
immediately suggests that there will be little evolutionary advantage 4. There may exist a variety of gene mutations with late deleterious
in programming long-term survival capacity into a mouse. The ar- effects that contribute to the senescent phenotype.
gument is further strengthened by the observation that nearly all
Given these points, it is clear that multiple genes contribute to the
of the survival mechanisms required by the mouse to combat in-
aging phenotype. A cornerstone of the current research agenda is to
trinsic deterioration (DNA damage, protein oxidation, etc.) require
identify these genes and discover which are the most important.
metabolic resources. Metabolic resources are scarce, as is evidenced
by the fact that the major cause of mortality for wild mice is cold,
due to insufficient energy to maintain body temperature. From a Mechanisms of Aging
Darwinian point of view, the mouse will benefit more from invest-
Aging appears to be driven by the progressive accumulation through
ing any spare resource into thermogenesis or reproduction than into
life of a variety of random molecular defects that build up within
better DNA repair capacity than its need for longevity.
cells and tissues. These defects start to arise very early in life, probably
This concept, with its explicit focus on evolution of optimal
in utero, but in the early years, both the fraction of affected cells and
levels of cell maintenance, is termed the “disposable soma” theory.
the average burden of damage per affected cell are low. However, over
In essence, the investments in durability and maintenance of somatic
time the faults increase, resulting eventually in age-related functional
(nonreproductive) tissues are predicted to be sufficient to keep the
impairment of tissues and organs (Figure 2-1). This concept makes
body in good repair through the normal expectation of life in the
clear the life-course nature of the underlying mechanisms. Aging is a
wild environment, with some measure of reserve capacity. Thus, it
continuous process, starting early and developing gradually, instead
makes sense that mice (with 90% mortality by 10 months) have
of being a distinct phase that begins in middle to late life.
intrinsic life spans of around 3 years, while humans (who probably
Since there are multiple kinds of molecular and cellular dam-
experienced something like 90% mortality by the age of 50 years
age, and a corresponding variety of mechanisms to protect against
in our ancestral environment) have intrinsic life spans limited to
and repair them, aging is a highly complex process involving mul-
about 100 years. The distinction between somatic and reproductive
tiple mechanisms at different levels. This multiplicity of candidate
tissues is important because the reproductive cell lineage, or germ
mechanisms can easily become confusing, particularly since those
line, must be maintained at a level that preserves viability across the
researching a specific mechanism have a tendency to suggest that
generations, whereas the soma needs only to support the survival of
their preferred choice is the mechanism that drives aging. It will be
a single generation.
This concept helps to explain why species differ in their intrinsic
life spans. It is noteworthy, for example, that species of birds and
Delayed by good diet, lifestyle, and
Age-Related Frailty, Disability, and Disease
Accelerated by stress, poor diet,
bats tend to have greater longevity than flightless species. The reason
is thought to be that flight is a very successful way of reducing an
favorable environment
adverse environment
apparent from the previous section that, in fact, it is highly unlikely in humans is normally expressed only in germ cells (in testis and
that any single mechanism can tell the whole story. We will consider ovary) and in certain adult stem cells. Some studies have suggested
the prominent hypothesized mechanisms below. For each mecha- that in dividing somatic cells, telomeres act as an intrinsic “division
nism, there is evidence supporting the hypothesis that it is indeed counter,” perhaps to protect us against runaway cell division as hap-
an agent of senescence. However, the extent of the contribution to pens in cancer but causing aging as the price for this protection.
senescence is generally too small for the mechanism to be a sufficient Erosion of telomere length below a critical length appears to trigger
explanation of age-related degeneration. The clear inference is that activation of cell cycle “checkpoints,” especially the p53/p21/pRb
aging is multicausal and that the various mechanisms all play their system, resulting in permanent arrest of the cell’s capacity for further
part and are likely to interact synergistically. For example, a build-up division.
of mitochondrial DNA mutations will lead to a decline in the cell’s The loss of telomeric DNA is often attributed mainly to the so-
energy production, and this will reduce the capacity to carry out called “end-replication” problem—the inability of the normal DNA
energy-dependent protein clearance. In recent years, novel methods copying machinery to copyright to the very end of the strand in the
based on computer modeling of interactions and synergism between absence of telomerase. However, biochemical stress has an even big-
different aging mechanisms have begun to build a better integrated ger effect on the rate of telomere loss. Telomere shortening is greatly
picture of how cells break down with age and there is growing ex- accelerated (or slowed) in cells with increased (or reduced) levels of
perimental evidence that interactions between multiple mechanisms stress. The clinical relevance of understanding telomere maintenance
are important. and its interaction with biochemical stress is considerable. A growing
body of evidence suggests that telomere length is linked with aging
and mortality. Not only do telomeres shorten with normal aging in
Oxidative Damage
several tissues (e.g., lymphocytes, vascular endothelial cells, kidney,
An important theme linking several different kinds of damage is the liver), but also their reduction is more marked in certain disease
action of ROS (also known as free radicals), which are produced states. For example, there appears to be a 100-fold higher incidence
as by-products of the body’s essential use of oxygen to produce of vascular dementia in people with prematurely short telomeres.
cellular energy. Of particular significance are the contributions of Furthermore, the psychological stress associated with provision of
ROS-induced damage to cellular DNA through (i) damage to the long-term care for those with chronic illness has also been associ-
chromosomal DNA of the cell nucleus, resulting in impaired gene ated with premature shortening of telomeres, presumably through
function, (ii) damage to telomeres—the protective DNA structures biochemical sequelae to the chronic activation of stress hormones.
that appear to “cap” the ends of chromosomes (analogous to the plas- Short telomeres may therefore serve as a general indicator of previous
tic tips of shoelaces), and (iii) damage to the DNA that exists within exposure to stress and as a prognostic indicator for disease conditions
the cell’s energy-generating organelles, the mitochondria, resulting in which stress plays a causative role.
in impaired energy production.
shortening of telomeres, confirming the synergism and interaction Multistage Progression of Age-Related Disease
between different molecular mechanisms of aging.
Disease B
Proteins
In addition to damage affecting cellular DNA, damage to protein
molecules occurs to a considerable extent, and accumulation of
faulty proteins contributes to important age-related disorders such as Disease A
cataract, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease. In some ways,
the accumulation of defective proteins is harder to explain than the
accumulation of DNA damage, since individual protein molecules
are subject to a continual cycle of synthesis and breakdown. Thus, Disease C
damaged individual protein molecules should be cleared as soon as
that molecule is degraded. However, there is evidence that the protein
degradation mechanisms themselves deteriorate in function with ag-
ing. This is thought to occur because these mechanisms eventually
become overwhelmed by a build-up of defective protein molecules ‘Upstream’ ‘Downstream’
that are resistant to breakdown, for example, because they form ag- FIGURE 2-2. Multistage progression of age-dependent diseases. The in-
gregates large enough to withstand the normal removal systems. It trinsic aging process, as well as most age-dependent diseases, are driven
is the build-up of such aggregates that is commonly linked with cell by the gradual accumulation of molecular and cellular faults. Although in-
dividual age-dependent diseases may be defined by particular “end-stage”
and tissue pathology.
cellular pathology, common upstream processes, such as DNA damage or
oxidative damage to proteins, are shared between many age-related dis-
eases and intrinsic aging. Intervention in these upstream processes has the
potential, therefore, to be effective against multiple age-related diseases.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NORMAL AGING
AND DISEASE
The relationship between normal aging and age-related disease has so-called hallmarks of classic Alzheimer’s disease) even though they
long been controversial. At stake is the question of whether the may show no evidence of major cognitive decline. In this instance,
term “normal aging” should be reserved for individuals in whom what determines whether or not the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease
identifiable pathology is absent, whereas specific age-related diseases, is called for may be not so much the presence of lesions as which
such as Alzheimer’s disease, are seen as distinct entities. However, this specific targets are affected.
concept gives rise to a conundrum. As a cohort ages, the fraction As the upstream mechanisms giving rise to age-related diseases
that can be said to be aging “normally” declines to a very low level. often involve the kind of damage that is thought to contribute to
Whether the word “normal” can usefully be applied to such an intrinsic aging, similar damaging processes may contribute to the
atypical subset is debatable. pathogenesis of multiple disorders, even though the final nature of
In a clinical context, it often makes sense to try and draw a the end-stage lesions may be different (Figure 2-2). For example,
distinction between normal aging and disease, since this may have oxidative stress may be a factor in protein aggregation in neurode-
implications for treatment. However, if the aim is to understand the generative diseases, in cell defects contributing to atherogenesis in
mechanisms responsible for age-related conditions, such a distinction cardiovascular diseases, and in impaired function of osteoblasts in
can obscure what is really going on, since the boundary between osteoporosis. If this concept is correct, future interventions that tar-
aging and disease pathogenesis may be somewhat arbitrary. For the get underlying processes of normal aging may postpone multiple
vast majority of chronic, degenerative conditions, such as dementia, age-related diseases.
osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis, age is the biggest single risk factor The role played by basic cell maintenance systems both in secur-
predisposing to the disease in question. What is it about aging that ing longevity and in protecting against a spectrum of age-associated
renders the older cell or tissue more vulnerable to pathology? conditions is nicely illustrated by the human CDKN2a locus, which
Aging involves the progressive accumulation of cellular and intriguingly codes for two different proteins via different open read-
molecular lesions, and the same is generally true of the age-associated ing frames. One of these proteins is p16INK4a , a cyclin-dependent
diseases. Thus, there is considerable potential for overlap between protein kinase inhibitor; the other is ARF, a potent regulator of
the causative pathways leading to normal aging and age-related dis- p53. The level of p16INK4a is associated with cellular aging in skin,
eases. In the case of osteoporosis, for example, progressive bone loss pancreatic islets, and hematopoietic and neuronal stem cells, and
from the late twenties onwards is the norm. Whether an individual p16INK4a , together with ARF, is involved in regulating cell senescence
reaches a critically low bone density, making him or her highly sus- and tumor suppression. At the population level, polymorphism at
ceptible to fracture, is governed by how much bone mass they had the CDKN2a locus is associated with risk for type 2 diabetes and
to start with and by their individual rate of bone loss. The process with the preservation of physical function at older age. It seems likely
that leads eventually to osteoporosis is thus entirely “normal.” but that further study of the gene and its protein products will reveal
what distinguishes whether or not this process results in an overtly important interconnections with aging and age-related diseases.
pathological outcome is a range of moderating factors. In the case Through increased understanding of how fundamental mainte-
of Alzheimer’s disease, most people above the age of 70 years have nance systems are involved in protection against both aging and
extensive cortical amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (the disease, it can be expected that future interventions will be found
CHAPTER 2 / Genetics of Age-Dependent Human Disease 19
that can target underlying processes of normal aging, with the benefit Environmental
of postponing multiple age-related diseases. modulation
of applying genetic techniques to understanding the heritability of or another pathway that leads to permanent cell cycle arrest. Which
innate factors influencing longevity has seen the burgeoning of stud- of these routes is taken depends in large part on the risk, posed by
ies on the genetics of human longevity. Initially, these examined the damage, of potentially initiating a tumor. If the cell is a stem cell,
longevity records for monozygotic and dizygotic twins. From these it is more likely to undergo apoptosis. Teleologically this appears to
analyses emerged the finding that, in the population at large, gene make sense, since the cancer transformation risk of preserving a cell
differences account for 20% to 30% of the variation in human life that belongs to a highly proliferative tissue compartment is greater,
span. More recently, studies of families with extreme longevity, such and so it is logical for the cell to be deleted and replaced. On the
as centenarians, support the idea that there is an important genetic other hand, if the cell belongs to a more general category, such as
contribution to an individual’s chance of attaining great age. Siblings a fibroblast, it is less likely that apoptosis will be triggered and the
of centenarians are more likely to become centenarians themselves, cell instead is subjected to permanent arrest, or senescence. Various
and these effects extend also to other family members. A number of genes influence the likelihood of adopting one or another of these
candidate-gene studies have tested the hypothesis that specific alleles alternatives. Furthermore, experimental modulation of these genes
associated with reduced risk of disease, or with improved somatic or naturally occurring polymorphisms have been found to influence
maintenance, may be found to be more prevalent in centenarians the outcome. For example, if the function of the tumor suppressor
than in younger age groups. The positive results reported from such p53 is genetically enhanced, apoptosis is more likely, and this is found
studies support the notion that, out of an initially heterogeneous to be associated with a reduced lifetime risk of cancer. However,
cohort, those with a genetic endowment predisposing to somatic this protection comes at a cost, since in mouse models, at least,
durability and freedom from disease will become increasingly nu- the process of intrinsic aging, caused by age-dependent tissue loss
merous, as a fraction of the surviving members, while the cohort of cellularity, is accelerated by genetic enhancement of p53 activity.
grows ever older. Life span is reduced and various age-dependent pathological changes
The advent of rapid genome analysis techniques has made pos- occur earlier.
sible the scanning of the entire human genome for genetic markers In terms of the genetics of specific age-dependent diseases, there
that are associated with longevity in kin groups, without requir- is likely to be considerable overlap between the underlying pathways
ing any prior hypothesis as to the nature of the genes associated contributing to intrinsic aging generally and to the lesions associated
with these markers. Several current studies are exploiting these tech- with individual diseases. It is striking that even in the cases where
niques using, for example, DNA from surviving nonagenarian sib- gene polymorphisms have been linked to particular diseases, such
lings to search for markers that might confer familial predisposition as Alzheimer’s, the dominant risk factor in sporadic cases, i.e., those
for healthy aging. The rationale for these studies is that while, for not associated with strongly familial, early-onset presentation, is age
an individual, surviving to great age might be a matter of chance, rather than genotype. Thus, in pursuing the genetics of these kinds
the fact that two or more individuals from the same family have of age-dependent conditions, the research question is more likely to
done so makes it more likely that something in their shared genetic be answered if it is formulated in terms of addressing how specific
endowment is responsible. genes affect the underlying pathogenesis of intrinsic aging, rather
Early results from genetic studies on human longevity are now than driving a pathway that is mechanistically distinct.
emerging. In line with the evidence from nonhuman animal models,
there is some indication that long-lived humans have decreased levels
of IGF-1, consistent with the hypothesis that insulin/IGF-1 response
MALLEABILITY OF THE HUMAN AGING PROCESS
is associated with longevity. Further studies on gene polymorphisms
linked to the insulin/IGF-1-signaling pathways are likely to reveal One of the striking features of the increase in human life expectancy
this association in further detail. Similarly, there is growing interest in recent decades is that, contrary to demographic forecasts of the
in the possibility that polymorphisms in members of the sirtuin major national and international agencies, life span has continued to
gene family (proteins that influence the activity of essential factors increase steadily. This was initially surprising because it was thought
regulating the general patterns of gene expression), already shown to that there was a fixed ceiling on human life expectancy imposed
be important in connection with longevity-associated metabolism by the intrinsic, programmed nature of the aging process itself.
in yeast and animal models, may have connections with life span By this logic, once death rates in the early and middle years had
regulation in humans. been pushed down to the low levels seen in most developed coun-
Among the factors that directly affect cellular maintenance, pre- tries, there would be little opportunity for life expectancy to climb
dicted by evolutionary theory to be central to regulating aging and further.
longevity, there is growing evidence that genes regulating funda- The failure of the limited life span paradigm can, however, be
mental DNA repair processes are linked to life span. The human understood within the framework for the intrinsic biology of aging
progeroid condition Werner’s syndrome is caused by mutation in outlined previously. If there is no intrinsic genetic program for aging,
the WRN gene, which codes for an enzyme that has multiple roles in then the mechanisms that drive the aging process—accumulation
DNA maintenance and repair, while Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome of molecular and cellular damage—are amenable to environmental
(a more extreme form of progeria) is associated with mutation in the modulation. Aging is the result of a gradual but progressive accumu-
LMNA gene coding for a component of the external envelope of the lation of damage to cells, tissues, and organs. However, the process
cell nucleus. is not entirely passive, since the rate of accumulation is strongly
Other gene associations with aging are being discovered among resisted by maintenance and repair processes, which are controlled
genes that regulate the cellular response to damage. When a cell by genes. Furthermore, both the incidence of damage and the reg-
detects that it has suffered damage, particularly to its DNA, it may ulation of these genes may be influenced by extrinsic factors. This
activate a pathway that leads to programmed cell death (apoptosis) picture readily accommodates the roles of at least five major elements
CHAPTER 2 / Genetics of Age-Dependent Human Disease 21
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Wilhelmi Tellistä ja Sveitsinmaan
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Language: Finnish
Kirj.
Alexandre Dumas
Ruotsista suomentanut
A. Räty
Imprimatur: I. U. Wallenius.
Ensimäinen Luku.
— Minkälaisen?
— Etten syödä muuta kuin leipää, enkä juoda muuta kuin vettä
siihen aikaan asti, joka kenties vielä sangen kaukana on.
— Luonani seisoi eräs nuori mutta tukeva puu, jonka minä heti
taitoin. Min'en tarvitse sitä enkä tätä, sanoin minä; te nä'ette olevani
varustetun.
Hän ojensi kätensä ja kosketti atraani. Minä luulen, että hän liikutti
sitä hyppysillään.
Sill'aikaa tuli vieras yhäti lähemmäksi; hän oli noin 40:nen vuoden
paikoilla oleva mies, vaatehittu mustan puhakkaan kauhtanaan, joka
hänelle ainoasti polviin asti ylettyi ja näkyi olevan puoleksi
munkkipuoleksi tavallisen vaateparren kaltainen; kuitenkin havaittiin
hänen pitkästä tukastaan, viiksistään ja parrastaan, joka keritty
vapain maalaisten tavalla, jos hän olisiki luostari-väkeä, niin olisi se
sangen kaukaisesta maakunnasta. Päälliseksi näkyi hänen käyntinsä
enemmin sotijan kuin munkin kaltaiselta, ja olisi voitu arvella
sotamieheksi, jos hällä miekan siassa ei olisi ollut kirjoitus-aineet
sivullansa ja tyhjässä nuoli-torvessaan perkamenttikääry ja sulkia.
— Mintähden?
Toinen Luku.
Konrad Baumgartenista.
— Se on mahdotoin.
— Se on myös mahdotoin.
— Jo ennen?
— Ja, mutta minä unhotin sen; vaan eilen kohtasin minä hänen
tiellä
Stantsiin, ja hän sanoi minulle sitä samaa.
— Ketä sinä niin uhkailet? kysyi Rosa. Muista, Konrad, että hän on
meidän päällysmies!
— Ja.
— Hän tuli!…
— Ei, ei tässä nyt ole vielä aika rukoilla, kiljasi Konrad ilosta
välkkyvin silmin. Ole huoletta Rosa! ei Jumala meitä jätä.
— Elä pelkää, sanoi Rosa, hypäten esinnä sitä myöten; elä pelkää,
Konrad, vaan seuraa minua!