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Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ., 1 September 2004 PERSPECTIVESNot Wisely but Too Well: Aging as a Cost of Neuroendocrine ActivityCharles V. Mobbs The author is in the Departments of Neuroscience and Geriatrics, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustav Levy Place, Box 1065, New York, NY 10029, USA. E-mail: charles.mobbs{at}mssm.edu http://sageke.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2004/35/pe33Key Words: diabetes • glucocorticoids • glucose metabolism • neuroendocrine signaling • reproduction • stress
Abstract: Progressive decline of some neuroendocrine signaling systems has long been assumed to cause age-related physiological impairments and limit life span. However, hypophysectomy--removal of the pituitary gland--can delay many aspects of the aging process, and recent genetic studies have confirmed that reducing the secretion of pituitary hormones can increase the life span of laboratory organisms. Most strikingly, reducing activity of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling system substantially increases life span. Conversely, activity of the reproductive system or activation of stress responses can curtail life span. Because caloric restriction also reduces the activity of several neuroendocrine systems while increasing life span, it now appears that the aging process is driven, at least in part, by neuroendocrine activity rather than by its decline with age. Citation: C. V. Mobbs, Not Wisely but Too Well: Aging as a Cost of Neuroendocrine Activity. Sci. Aging Knowl. Environ. 2004 (35), pe33 (2004).
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Science of Aging Knowledge Environment. ISSN 1539-6150
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