Didier E S, MacLean A G, Mohan M, Didier P J, Lackner A A, Kuroda M J
Division of Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, USA
Division of Comparative Pathology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, LA, USA.
Vet Pathol. 2016 Mar;53(2):277-90. doi: 10.1177/0300985815622974. Epub 2016 Feb 11.
Aging is the biological process of declining physiologic function associated with increasing mortality rate during advancing age. Humans and higher nonhuman primates exhibit unusually longer average life spans as compared with mammals of similar body mass. Furthermore, the population of humans worldwide is growing older as a result of improvements in public health, social services, and health care systems. Comparative studies among a wide range of organisms that include nonhuman primates contribute greatly to our understanding about the basic mechanisms of aging. Based on their genetic and physiologic relatedness to humans, nonhuman primates are especially important for better understanding processes of aging unique to primates, as well as for testing intervention strategies to improve healthy aging and to treat diseases and disabilities in older people. Rhesus and cynomolgus macaques are the predominant monkeys used in studies on aging, but research with lower nonhuman primate species is increasing. One of the priority topics of research about aging in nonhuman primates involves neurologic changes associated with cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases. Additional areas of research include osteoporosis, reproductive decline, caloric restriction, and their mimetics, as well as immune senescence and chronic inflammation that affect vaccine efficacy and resistance to infections and cancer. The purpose of this review is to highlight the findings from nonhuman primate research that contribute to our understanding about aging and health span in humans.
衰老指的是随着年龄增长，生理功能下降并伴有死亡率上升的生物学过程。与体重相似的哺乳动物相比，人类和高等非人类灵长类动物的平均寿命异常延长。此外，由于公共卫生、社会服务和医疗保健系统的改善，全球人口正在老龄化。对包括非人类灵长类动物在内的多种生物进行比较研究，极大地有助于我们理解衰老的基本机制。基于它们与人类的遗传和生理相关性，非人类灵长类动物对于更好地理解灵长类动物特有的衰老过程，以及测试改善健康衰老和治疗老年人疾病及残疾的干预策略尤为重要。恒河猴和食蟹猴是衰老研究中使用的主要猴类，但对低等非人类灵长类物种的研究也在增加。非人类灵长类动物衰老研究的优先主题之一涉及与认知衰退和神经退行性疾病相关的神经学变化。其他研究领域包括骨质疏松症、生殖功能衰退、热量限制及其模拟物，以及影响疫苗效力和抗感染及抗癌能力的免疫衰老和慢性炎症。本综述的目的是强调非人类灵长类动物研究的结果，这些结果有助于我们理解人类的衰老和健康寿命。
