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. 2008 Dec;30(4):187-99.
doi: 10.1007/s11357-008-9048-1. Epub 2008 Apr 18.

Design of aging intervention studies: the NIA interventions testing program

N L Nadon  1 , R Strong, R A Miller, J Nelson, M Javors, Z D Sharp, J M Peralba, D E Harrison
Affiliations

Design of aging intervention studies: the NIA interventions testing program

N L Nadon et al. Age (Dordr). 2008 Dec.

Abstract

The field of biogerontology has made great strides towards understanding the biological processes underlying aging, and the time is ripe to look towards applying this knowledge to the pursuit of aging interventions. Identification of safe, inexpensive, and non-invasive interventions that slow the aging process and promote healthy aging could have a significant impact on quality of life and health care expenditures for the aged. While there is a plethora of supplements and interventions on the market that purport to slow aging, the evidence to validate such claims is generally lacking. Here we describe the development of an aging interventions testing program funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to test candidate interventions in a model system. The development of this program highlights the challenges of long-term intervention studies and provides approaches to cope with the stringent requirements of a multi-site testing program.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Variation in median survival of C57BL/6 mice. Median lifespan of control, untreated male C57BL/6 mice from published studies is presented (from: 1 Talan and Ingram ; 2 Harrison and Archer ; 3 Goodrick et al. (three independent cohorts); 4 Bronson and Lipman ; 5 Blackwell et al. ; 6 Pugh et al. ; 7 Turturro et al. ; 8 Forster et al. ; and 9 Ikeno et al. 2005)
Fig. 2 a, b
Fig. 2 a, b
A change in median lifespan does not always reflect effects in late life. Survival curves for ad libitum-fed and caloric restricted (CR) C57BL/6 (B6), and obese/obese (ob/ob) mutant mice are presented (reprinted from Harrison et al. 1991). On the left (a) is the curve to the median survival point, while the entire survival curve on the right (b) shows a very different trend in the last half of the lifespan
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Encapsulation of rapamycin improves stability in laboratory chow. Rapamycin was added to commercially prepared lab chow at 7 ppm and the food was then assayed for rapamycin content. Rapamycin levels are less than expected, suggesting that rapamycin degraded during preparation or storage of the food (open bar). Microencapsulation of the rapamycin reduced degradation (shaded bar)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Rapamycin is detectable in whole blood after feeding diet containing encapsulated or unencapsulated rapamycin. Encapsulated and unencapsulated rapamycin (7 ppm) was feed to mice for 3 weeks and the blood assayed for rapamycin levels. Encapsulation resulted in significantly higher blood levels of rapamycin than observed using unencapsulated rapamycin
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