Centenarians Have Lipid Profiles More Resistant to Peroxidation

The role of oxidized lipids in aging is often studied in the context of comparative biology, comparing different species with divergent life spans in order to try to identify the properties of cellular metabolism that are most influential on life span. It appears that the degree to which lipids are resistant to oxidative reactions is an important factor, and this has given rise to the membrane pacemaker hypothesis. There is something in mitochondrial function and resilience of lipids in mitochondrial membranes to forms of damage that is important in life span, at least at the scale of differences between species. Do lipid variations have a noteworthy effect on aging and longevity within a species, however? The evidence here suggests that there is an effect, but says little about the size of the effect. Maximum lifespan (MLSP) is a species-specific feature that may differ more than 5000-fold among animal species being about 120 years in humans. Centenarians are considered an exceptional human model of healthy aging and extreme longevity. Available evidences reveal the existence of a link between MLSP and lipids. Thus, the findings from several studies demonstrate that the membrane fatty acid profile differs between animal species (including vertebrates, invertebrates, and exceptionally long-lived animal species) and that cell membrane susceptibility to lipid peroxidation is inversely related to MLSP. Furthermore, a recent phylogenomic approach showed that genes involv...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs