CALORIC RESTRICTION AND AGING IN NONHUMAN PRIMATE EYES

这个子项目是利用资源的许多研究子项目之一。 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。对子项目的主要支持 子项目的首席调查员可能是由其他来源提供的， 包括美国国立卫生研究院的其他来源。为子项目列出的总成本可能 表示该子项目使用的中心基础设施的估计数量， 不是由NCRR赠款提供给次级项目或次级项目工作人员的直接资金。 饮食卡路里限制(CR)是可靠地延长各种物种寿命的唯一干预措施，包括蠕虫、苍蝇、鱼类和啮齿动物。CR是否也能延长人类寿命仍是个未知数。美国国家老龄研究所的卡路里限制研究维持了长期的非人类灵长类动物群体，这些群体接受了许多健康参数和衰老标志的评估，并提供了解决这一问题的最佳可用的非人类灵长类动物模型。作为这一独特资源的一部分，ONPRC维持了4.5年的恒河猴群体，包括30%卡路里限制或随意饮食的年轻和老年群体，并在NIA对大群体进行了终身跟踪。由于无创监测的可及性，眼睛是纵向评估CR是否能够延缓衰老和老年性疾病发生的理想器官，因此我们正在对这些猴子的眼睛老化进行深入的研究。我们项目的两个主要目标是：1)确定CR是否延缓了衰老和与年龄相关的眼部疾病的发展，包括黄斑变性、白内障、青光眼和视神经萎缩；以及2)利用与年龄相关的退化和氧化应激的标记物，将临床观察与组织病理学研究联系起来。这项研究可以为人类老年性眼病的原因和可能的治疗提供新的见解。在过去的一年里，我们继续对NIA CR群体中的猴子进行评估，并完成了有助于理解与年龄相关的视网膜疾病所涉及的细胞过程的形态学研究。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Dietary caloric restriction (CR) is the only intervention to reliably extend the lifespan of a variety of species, including worms, flies, fishes and rodents. Whether CR can also extend the human lifespan remains unknown. The National Institutes of Aging's Caloric Restriction Study maintains long-term colonies of nonhuman primates that are evaluated for many health parameters and markers of aging and provide the best available nonhuman primate model to address this question. As part of this unique resource, groups of rhesus monkeys, including young and old groups on 30% calorically restricted or ad libitum diets, were maintained at ONPRC for 4.5 years, and large groups are being followed throughout their lifespan at NIA. Because of its accessibility to noninvasive monitoring, the eye is an ideal organ to evaluate longitudinally whether CR can retard the occurrence of aging and age-related disease, and therefore we are conducting in-depth studies of ocular aging in these monkeys. The two major goals of our project are: 1) to determine whether CR retards the development of aging and age-related ocular diseases including macular degeneration, cataract, glaucoma and optic nerve atrophy; and 2) to correlate clinical observations with histopathological studies, using markers of age-related degeneration and oxidative stress. This research can provide new insights into the causes and possible treatment of human age-related ocular disorders. In the past year we continued evaluation of monkeys in the NIA CR colony, and completed morphological studies that contribute to understanding the cellular processes involved in age-related retinal disease.