"The Biology of Human Longevity" by Caleb Finch

Discussion of a new book The Biology of Human Longevity by Caleb Finch


Greetings,

Here is a new book for discussion:

The Biology of Human Longevity:
Inflammation, Nutrition, and Aging in the Evolution of Lifespans
by Caleb E. Finch (Hardcover - Jul 17, 2007)


This book contains 416 pages of the text itself, and 183 pages of bibliography (something about 3,276 references!)

With this amount of references, this book is a kind of encyclopedia on aging where you can find almost everything. For example, I was curious to learn more about animal hibernation and its links to aging and longevity. Here is what I have found in this book on my selected topic, and this example with provided references illustrates the level of scholarship in this book:

Page 195:

"Hibernation has been compared with DR [Dietary Restriction] because of the prolonged phases of low food intake (Walford and Spindler, 1997; Wilkinson and South, 2002). Like DR, hibernation may also attenuate certain infections. In bats ( Myotis lucifugis ), the infectivity of equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEV) was much less during hibernation (Main, 1979). Hibernating squirrels ( Citellus erythrogens ) injected with fungal spores were asymptomatic; upon the squirrels' awakening, the spores caused skin infections (Sharapov, 1984). As in DR, hibernating squirrels have fewer white blood cells, which increase after feeding (Bachman, 2003). Hibernation also lowers plasma complement activity (Maniero, 2002)."

"How does restricted food intake influence infections? The Murrays suggested that starvation limits microbial pathogen growth by induced deficiencies of various micronutrients, such as iron, zinc, and methionine (McMahon et al, 1993; Murray et al, 1995). Free iron, which is limiting for microbial and fungal growth, is tightly regulated and further sequestered from circulation during acute phase responses (Beisel, 1995; Bullen et al, 2005; Exton, 1997). LPS [Lipopolysacchaides] rapidly induces hepcidin, a key regulator of iron metabolism that mediates the hypoferremia of inflammation (Kemna et al, 2005). The importance of iron was directly shown in iron-deficient African nomadics: Those receiving iron supplements had 5-fold more symptomatic infections, including activation of malaria, brucellosis, and tuberculosis (Murray, 1978; Plata-Salaman, 1996). This result suggests the importance of iron regulatory mechanisms during the human evolutionary transitions to meat-rich diets in Africa (Chapter 6)."

References for page 195:
-- Bachman GC. (2003) Food supplements modulate changes in leucocyte numbers in breeding male ground squirrels. J Exp Biol. 206(Pt 14):2373-80. PMID: 12796454
-- Beisel WR. (1995) Herman Award Lecture, 1995: infection-induced malnutrition--from cholera to cytokines. Am J Clin Nutr. 62(4):813-9. Review. PMID: 7572715
-- Bullen JJ, Rogers HJ, Spalding PB, Ward CG. (2005) Iron and infection: the heart of the matter.FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 43(3):325-30. Review. PMID: 15708305
-- Exton MS. (1997) Infection-induced anorexia: active host defence strategy. Appetite. 29(3):369-83. Review. PMID: 9468766
-- Kemna E, Pickkers P, Nemeth E, van der Hoeven H, Swinkels D. ( 2005) Time-course analysis of hepcidin, serum iron, and plasma cytokine levels in humans injected with LPS. Blood. 106(5):1864-6. PMID: 15886319
-- Main AJ. (1979) Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus in experimentally infected bats. J Wildife Diseases. 15(3):467-77. PMID: 41109
-- Maniero GD. (2002) Classical pathway serum complement activity throughout various stages of the annual cycle of a mammalian hibernator, the golden-mantled ground squirrel, Spermophilus lateralis. Dev Comp Immunol. 26(6):563-74. PMID: 12031416
-- McMahon MM, Farnell MB, Murray MJ. (1993) Nutritional support of critically ill patients. Mayo Clin Proc. 68(9):911-20. Review. PMID: 8371609
-- Murray MJ, Murray AB, Murray MB, Murray CJ. (1978) The adverse effect of iron repletion on the course of certain infections. Br Med J. 1978 2(6145):1113-5. PMID: 361162
-- Murray MJ, Murray AB, Murray NJ, Murray MB. (1995) Infections during severe primary undernutrition and subsequent refeeding: paradoxical findings. Aust N Z J Med. 25(5):507-11. PMID: 8588773
-- Plata-Salaman CR. (1996) Anorexia during acute and chronic disease. Nutrition. 1996 Feb;12(2):69-78. Review. PMID: 8724375
-- Sharapov VM. (1984) Influence of animal hibernation on the development of mycoses. Mycopathologia. 84(2-3):77-80. PMID: 6538934
-- Walford R.L.& Spindler S.R., (1997) The response to caloric restriction in mammals shows features also common to hibernation: a cross-adaptation hypothesis. Journal of Gerontology A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 52, B179-BB183
-- Wilkinson G.S. & South J.M., (2002) Life history, ecology and longevity in bats. Aging Cell, 1, 124-131.

Page 197:

"Additionally, I suggest that lower blood glucose in fasting and in DR (Fig.3.2B) restrict bacterial growth. Conversely, infections are more frequent in hyperglycemia and diabetes (Dubos, 1955; Savin, 1974). A well-controlled study showed 5-fold higher risk of postsurgical infections at postoperative glucose at >220 mg/dL, despite antibiotic therapy (Pomposelli et al, 1998). Glucose control in diabetic cardiac surgical patients decreased postoperative infections by 40% (Zerr et al, 1997). Hyperglycemic rodents are also more vulnerable to infections, illustrated by three of many other good studies. In fasting mice, access to 5% glucose in the drinking fluid sharply increased mortality from staphylococcal infections (Smith and Dubos, 1956). Hyperglycemic rats had higher mortality from Candida albicans, together with suppressed macrophage responses and deficits of IFNgamma (Mencacci et al, 1993; Mosci et al, 1993). Moreover, lung influenza virus load was proportional to blood glucose at infection; this vulnerability was eliminated by insulin (Reading et al, 1998). Apparently, glucose competes with the influenza virus for binding by the SP-D protein, thereby reducing viral neutralization (Allen et al, 2004; Reading et al, 1997). SP-D (surfactant protein-D) is a soluble collectin with major importance to host defence in the lung; SP-D neutralizes many viral infections that are also
enhanced by hyperglycemia."

References for page 197:
-- Allen MJ, Laederach A, Reilly PJ, Mason RJ, Voelker DR. (2004) Arg343 in human surfactant protein D governs discrimination between glucose and N-acetylglucosamine ligands. Glycobiology. 14(8):693-700. PMID: 15115749
-- Dubos RJ. (1955) Effect of metabolic factors on the susceptibility of albino mice to experimental tuberculosis. J Exp Med. 101(1):59-84. PMID: 13211927
-- Mencacci A, Romani L, Mosci P, Cenci E, Tonnetti L, Vecchiarelli A, Bistoni F. (1993) Low-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetes in mice. II. Susceptibility to Candida albicans infection correlates with the induction of a biased Th2-like antifungal response. Cell Immunol. 1993 150(1):36-44. PMID: 8102088
-- Mosci P, Vecchiarelli A, Cenci E, Puliti M, Bistoni F. (1993) Low-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetes in mice. I. Course of Candida albicans infection. Cell Immunol. 150(1):27-35. PMID: 8343967
-- Pomposelli JJ, Baxter JK 3rd, Babineau TJ, Pomfret EA, Driscoll DF, Forse RA, Bistrian BR. (1998) Early postoperative glucose control predicts nosocomial infection rate in diabetic patients.JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 22(2):77-81. PMID: 9527963
-- Reading PC, Allison J, Crouch EC, Anders EM. (1998) Increased susceptibility of diabetic mice to influenza virus infection: compromise of collectin-mediated host defense of the lung by glucose? J Virol. 72(8):6884-7. PMID: 9658139
-- Reading PC, Morey LS, Crouch EC, Anders EM. (1997) Collectin-mediated antiviral host defense of the lung: evidence from influenza virus infection of mice. J Virol. 71(11):8204-12. PMID: 9343171
-- Savin JA. (1974) Bacterial infections in diabetes mellitus. Br J Dermatology. 91(4):481-4. Review. PMID: 4609453
-- Smith JM, Dubos RJ. (1956) The effect of nutritional disturbances on the susceptibility of mice to staphylococcal infections. J Exp Med. 103(1):109-18. PMID: 13278458
-- Zerr KJ, Furnary AP, Grunkemeier GL, Bookin S, Kanhere V, Starr A. (1997) Glucose control lowers the risk of wound infection in diabetics after open heart operations. Ann Thorac Surg. 63(2):356-61. PMID: 9033300

Page 198:

"Besides increasing resistance to certain infections, DR also attenuates acute phase responses in young rodent models. In the classic pharmacologic model of sterile edema induced by subcutaneous injection of inflammogens, James Nelson and colleagues showed that DR for 2 m shortened the duration of the local inflammatory response (Fig. 3.8) (Klebanov et al, 1995). Moreover, DR attenuated the LPS-induced transient increase of blood TNFalpha by 50% (Tsuchiya et al, 2005); the ozone-induced lung inflammation, which causes oxidative damage and fibrosis (fibronectin induction) (Elsayed, 2001; Kari et al, 1997); and allergic lung inflammation induced by house dust mite antigen (Dong et al, 2000). .... Other mechanisms could include downregulation of acute phase responses. DR lowers hepatic mRNA for serum amyloid A (SASA4) and complement factors: C9, C4 binding protein, mannose binding lectin (Corton et al, 2004; Dhahbi et al, 2004)."

References for page 198:
-- Corton JC, Apte U, Anderson SP, Limaye P, Yoon L, Latendresse J, Dunn C, Everitt JI, Voss KA, Swanson C, Kimbrough C, Wong JS, Gill SS, Chandraratna RA, Kwak MK, Kensler TW, Stulnig TM, Steffensen KR, Gustafsson JA, Mehendale HM. (2004) Mimetics of caloric restriction include agonists of lipid-activated nuclear receptors. J -- Biol Chem. 279(44):46204-12.PMID: 15302862
-- Dhahbi JM, Kim HJ, Mote PL, Beaver RJ, Spindler SR. (2004) Temporal linkage between the phenotypic and genomic responses to caloric restriction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 101(15):5524-9.PMID: 15044709
-- Dong W, Kari FW, Selgrade MK, Gilmour MI. (2000) Attenuated allergic responses to house dust mite antigen in feed-restricted rats. Environ Health Perspect. 108(12):1125-31. PMID: 11133391
-- Elsayed NM. (2001) Diet restriction modulates lung response and survivability of rats exposed to ozone. Toxicology. 2001 159(3):171-82. PMID: 11223172
-- Kari F, Hatch G, Slade R, Crissman K, Simeonova PP, Luster M. (1997) Dietary restriction mitigates ozone-induced lung inflammation in rats: a role for endogenous antioxidants. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 17(6):740-7. PMID: 9409561
-- Klebanov S, Diais S, Stavinoha WB, Suh Y, Nelson JF. (1995) Hyperadrenocorticism, attenuated inflammation, and the life-prolonging action of food restriction in mice. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 50(2):B79-82. PMID: 7874583
-- Tsuchiya T, Higami Y, Komatsu T, Tanaka K, Honda S, Yamaza H, Chiba T, Ayabe H, Shimokawa I. ( 2005) Acute stress response in calorie-restricted rats to lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation.Mech Ageing Dev. 126(5):568-79. PMID: 15811426

These excerpts demonstrate the level of detail and scrutiny in this book in discussing the study subject, and demonstrate how extensive is the list of supporting bibliography.

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