English Sinead, Uller Tobias
Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Biol Lett. 2016 Sep;12(9). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0291.
Life-history theory predicts that nutrition influences lifespan owing to trade-offs between allocating resources to reproduction, growth and repair. Despite occasional reports that early diet has strong effects on lifespan, it is unclear whether this prediction is generally supported by empirical studies. We conducted a meta-analysis across experimental studies manipulating pre- or post-natal diet and measuring longevity. We found no overall effect of early diet on lifespan. We used meta-regression, considering moderator variables based on experimental and life-history traits, to test predictions regarding the strength and direction of effects that could lead to positive or negative effects. Pre-natal diet manipulations reduced lifespan, but there were no effects of later diet, manipulation type, development mode, or sex. The results are consistent with the prediction that early diet restriction disrupts growth and results in increased somatic damage, which incurs lifespan costs. Our findings raise a cautionary note, however, for placing too strong an emphasis on early diet effects on lifespan and highlight limitations of measuring these effects under laboratory conditions.
生活史理论预测，由于在将资源分配给繁殖、生长和修复之间存在权衡，营养会影响寿命。尽管偶尔有报道称早期饮食对寿命有强烈影响，但尚不清楚这一预测是否普遍得到实证研究的支持。我们对操纵产前或产后饮食并测量寿命的实验研究进行了荟萃分析。我们发现早期饮食对寿命没有总体影响。我们使用元回归，考虑基于实验和生活史特征的调节变量，来检验关于可能导致正面或负面影响的效应强度和方向的预测。产前饮食操纵会缩短寿命，但后期饮食、操纵类型、发育模式或性别没有影响。这些结果与早期饮食限制会破坏生长并导致体细胞损伤增加从而产生寿命成本的预测一致。然而，我们的研究结果为过度强调早期饮食对寿命的影响敲响了警钟，并突出了在实验室条件下测量这些影响的局限性。
