Prairie voles as a novel model for the effects of pair bonds on aging

项目摘要 社会关系对人类健康至关重要。社会关系对人的影响 健康的衰老存在于几个系统中，包括心血管系统、新陈代谢、情绪和 认知功能。社交孤立和孤独的影响已经被证明是独立增加的 中风、心脏病和总死亡率的风险。相比之下，高质量的社会支持可以起到积极的作用 在健康老龄化中的作用，包括减少代谢综合征和不良心血管后果。长期的 伴侣关系(如婚姻)是许多成年人的主要亲密关系，但其他类型的 兄弟姐妹关系、其他家庭关系和友谊等关系也可能有助于健康 衰老。 草原田鼠是社会关系的优秀啮齿动物模型，因为它们表现出典型的行为 依恋结合的特征：成年男性和女性形成配对结合，其特征是 对熟悉伴侣的偏爱，分离时的痛苦，以及伴侣提供社交关系的能力 缓解压力。草原田鼠的这些行为特征为研究人员提供了 研究特定类型的从属关系(配偶、兄弟姐妹、亲子关系)对成人的影响 雄性和雌性都是如此。荷尔蒙催产素已被确定为一种基础机制 关系形成、关系质量和伴侣流失的神经生理学。它的分泌是由一种 各种各样的社会刺激，包括社会接触、性和社会压力。它的受体广泛存在 遍及全身。因此，它为社会的组织规模效应提供了一种潜在的统一机制 大脑和身体之间的关系。 在这里，我们将研究长期社会关系如何影响心脏、新陈代谢、认知和 一生中的情绪健康。我们的一般方法是使用草原田鼠，无论是雄性还是雌性，在 不同的社会条件(结对、与同性兄弟姐妹同住或与世隔绝)来检查 关系的存在、关系的类型以及关系在心脏和代谢方面的质量 健康、行为和认知健康，以及长寿。我们将纵向评估心脏、 三个时间点的代谢、行为和认知功能：6、18和24个月龄。我们将评估 随着年龄的增长，脑组织和外周组织(心脏、脂肪组织和 骨骼肌)。最后，我们将探索关系如何随着时间的推移而变化，以及失去伴侣是如何影响的 健康的衰老。

Project Summary Social relationships are crucially important to human health. The effects of social relationships on healthy aging are seen in several systems, including the cardiovascular system, metabolism, emotion, and cognitive function. The effects of social isolation and loneliness have been shown to independently increase risk for stroke, heart disease, and overall mortality. High quality social support, in contrast, can play a positive role in healthy aging including reducing metabolic syndrome and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Long-term partnerships (such as marriage) are the primary close relationship in many adults, but other types of relationships such as sibling relationships, other family relationships, and friendships, may also support healthy aging. Prairie voles are an excellent rodent model of social relationships, in that they show classic behavioral characteristics of an attachment bond: adult males and females form pair bonds, which are characterized by a preference for the familiar partner, distress upon separation, and the ability of the partner to provide a social buffer against stress. These behavioral characteristics in prairie voles provide researchers with the ability to examine the effects of specific types of affiliative relationships (pair mates, siblings, parent-offspring) in adult males as well as in females. The hormone oxytocin has been established as a foundational mechanism in the neurophysiology of relationship formation, relationship quality and partner loss. Its secretion is stimulated by a wide variety of social stimuli, including social touch, sex and social stress. Its receptor is widespread throughout the body. As such, it presents a potential unifying mechanism for organismal-scale effects of social relationships on the brain and the body. Here we will examine how long-term social relationships influence cardiac, metabolic, cognitive and emotional health across the lifespan. Our general approach is to use prairie voles, both males and females, in differing social conditions (pair-bonded, housed with same-sex sibling, or isolated) to examine the effects of presence of a relationship, type of that relationship, and quality of that relationship on cardiac and metabolic health, behavioral and cognitive health, and longevity. We will longitudinally assess measures of cardiac, metabolic, behavioral, and cognitive function at three timepoints: 6, 18, and 24 months of age. We will assess changes in the OT system across aging, on both brain and peripheral tissues (heart, adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle). Finally, we will explore how relationships change over time, and how loss of a partner affects healthy aging.