HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bergamini, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bergamini, E.

Letter to the Editor. In Response To: "Is There An Antiaging Medicine?"

President of the 3rd European Congress of Biogerontology Centro Interdipartimentale di Patologia dell'Invecchiamento Scuola Medica Pisa Italy E-mail: ebergami{at}ipg.med.unipi.it

To the Editor:

Butler and colleagues (1) report on a closed consensus workshop about existing and possible future interventions that can slow, stop, or reverse aging. They review the effects of several antiaging interventions and conclude that there is no convincing evidence that administration of any specific compound, natural or artificial, can globally slow aging in people—or even in mice and rats.

Different conclusions were reached during the 3rd European Congress of Biogerontology (Florence and Montecatini Terme, November 8–11, 2002). It is well known that autophagy is the only mechanism for housekeeping of cell membranes and organelles (2), the only potentially antiaging cell repair mechanism (3) to be regulated by nutrition via plasma insulin levels (4). Presentations showed that the effects of caloric restriction on membrane maintenance are mediated by the stimulation of autophagy and that a once-a-week life-long pharmacological stimulation of autophagy (as described in references 5 and 6) dramatically intensifies the antiaging effects of a very mild (10%) caloric restriction, making them maximal. The Pharmacological Intensification of Suppression of Aging (PISA) treatment [the name of the treatment was kindly suggested by Dr. George Martin] makes use of drugs already licensed for human use, at a much lower dose. From a practical point of view, the PISA treatment might open up a way to make people more likely to adhere to an antiaging regimen of dietary restriction otherwise too intensive to be endurable over their lifetime (7).

References

1. Butler RN, Fossel M, Harman SM, et al. Is there an antiaging medicine? J Gerontol Biol Sci.. 2002;57A:B333-B338.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Klionsky DJ, Emr SD. Autophagy as a regulated pathway of cellular degradation. Science.. 2000;290:1717-1721.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
3. Cavallini G, Donati A, Gori Z, Polera M, Bergamini E. The protection of rat liver proteolysis from the age-related decline co-varies with the duration of anti-ageing food restriction. Exp Gerontol.. 2001;36:497-506.[Medline]
4. Mortimore GE, Poso AR. Intracellular protein catabolism and its control during nutrient deprivation and supply. Ann Rev Nutr.. 1987;7:539-564.[Medline]
5. Bergamini E, Del Roso A, Fierabracci V, et al. A new method for the investigation of endocrine-reulated autophagy and protein degradation in rat liver. Exp Mol Pathol.. 1993;59:13-26.[Medline]
6. Bergamini E, Del Roso A, Gori Z, Masiello P, Masini M, Pollera M. Endocrine and amino acid regulation of liver macroautophagy and proteolytic function. Am J Physiol.. 1994;266:(1 Pt 1): G118-G122.[Medline]
7. Masoro E. Challenges of Biological Aging. New York: Springer Publishing; 1999.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bergamini, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bergamini, E.