Promislow D E
Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
J Theor Biol. 1994 Oct 7;170(3):291-300. doi: 10.1006/jtbi.1994.1190.
Comparative gerontologists argue that variation among species in DNA repair rates may explain differences in maximum lifespan, and support this claim with the observation that DNA repair rates and lifespan correlate positively among mammals. However, these findings may be confounded by both size and phylogeny. Repair rates and lifespan may be positively correlated because both are positively correlated with body size. In addition, previous comparative studies have not controlled for the potentially confounding effects of phylogeny. In this study, I elucidate why we might expect larger species to have higher DNA repair rates, independent of differences in lifespan, and use existing data to test whether the relationship between DNA repair rates and lifespan holds up after controlling for the potentially confounding effects of size and phylogeny. Reanalysis of the existing data suggests that there is little comparative evidence in favour of the hypothesis relating DNA repair rates and lifespan.
比较老年医学家认为，物种间DNA修复率的差异可能解释了最大寿命的不同，并通过观察哺乳动物中DNA修复率与寿命呈正相关来支持这一观点。然而，这些发现可能受到体型和系统发育的混淆。修复率和寿命可能呈正相关，因为两者都与体型呈正相关。此外，以往的比较研究没有控制系统发育的潜在混淆效应。在本研究中，我阐明了为什么我们可能预期较大的物种具有更高的DNA修复率，而与寿命差异无关，并利用现有数据来检验在控制了体型和系统发育的潜在混淆效应后，DNA修复率与寿命之间的关系是否依然成立。对现有数据的重新分析表明，几乎没有比较证据支持将DNA修复率与寿命联系起来的假说。
