Hormone Markedly Extends Mouse Life Span
Researchers announced they have found that a starvation hormone markedly extends life span in mice without the need for calorie restriction. “Restricting food intake has been shown to extend lifespan in several different kinds of animals. In our study, we found transgenic mice that produced more of the hormone fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21) got the benefits of dieting without having to limit their food intake. Male mice that overproduced the hormone had about a 30% increase in average life span and female mice had about a 40% increase in average life span,” said senior author Steven Kliewer.
The study published online in eLife — a new peer-reviewed, open access journal — defined average life span as the point at which half the members of a given test group remained alive. A study to determine differences in maximum life span is ongoing: While none of the untreated mice lived longer than about 3 years, some of the female mice that overproduced FGF21 were still alive at nearly 4 years, the researchers report