Altun Mikael, Bergman Esbjörn, Edström Erik, Johnson Hans, Ulfhake Brun
Experimental Neurogerontology, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Retziusväg 8, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Physiol Behav. 2007 Dec 5;92(5):911-23. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.06.017. Epub 2007 Jul 3.
Several disturbances occurring during aging of humans and rodents alike stem from changes in sensory and motor functions. Using a battery of behavioral tests we have studied alterations in performance with advancing age in female and male rats of some frequently used strains. In parallel, we collected survival and body weight data. The median survival age was similar for female and male Sprague-Dawley rats, inbred female Lewis and outbred male Wistar rats (29-30 months). In contrast, male Fisher 344 had a significantly shorter median life span. During aging there is a gradual decline in locomotor activity and explorative behavior while disturbances of coordination and balance first became evident at more advanced age. In old age, also weight carrying capacity, limb movement and temperature threshold were impaired. While whole body weight continues to increase over the better part of a rats' life span, the behavioral changes in old age associated with a decrease in both total body weight and muscle mass. Dietary restriction increases median life span expectancy; retards the pace of behavioral aging and impedes sarcopenia. Housing in enriched environment did not improve the scoring in the behavioral tests but tended to increase median life span. Finally, there was an agreement between behavioral data collected from longitudinal age-cohorts and those obtained from multiple age-cohorts.
人类和啮齿动物衰老过程中出现的几种功能紊乱源于感觉和运动功能的变化。我们使用一系列行为测试，研究了一些常用品系的雌性和雄性大鼠随着年龄增长其行为表现的变化。同时，我们收集了生存和体重数据。雌性和雄性斯普拉格-道利大鼠、近交系雌性刘易斯大鼠和远交系雄性Wistar大鼠的中位生存年龄相似（29 - 30个月）。相比之下，雄性费希尔344大鼠的中位寿命明显较短。在衰老过程中，运动活动和探索行为逐渐下降，而协调和平衡障碍在年龄更大时才首次变得明显。在老年时，负重能力、肢体运动和温度阈值也会受损。虽然在大鼠寿命的大部分时间里体重持续增加，但老年时的行为变化与总体重和肌肉质量的下降有关。饮食限制可增加中位预期寿命；延缓行为衰老的速度并阻碍肌肉减少症。饲养在丰富环境中并不能提高行为测试的得分，但往往会增加中位寿命。最后，从纵向年龄队列收集的行为数据与从多个年龄队列获得的数据一致。
