hat-tip to rs1000 over at sci.life-extension
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Neurobiol Aging. 2006 Oct 30; [Epub ahead of print]
A carboxyfullerene SOD mimetic improves cognition and extends the
lifespan of mice.
Quick KL, Ali SS, Arch R, Xiong C, Wozniak D, Dugan LL.
Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St.
Louis, MO 63110, United States.
In lower organisms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila,
many genes identified as key regulators of aging are involved in
either detoxification of reactive oxygen species or the cellular
response to oxidatively-damaged macromolecules. Transgenic mice have
been generated to study these genes in mammalian aging, but have not
in general exhibited the expected lifespan extension or beneficial
behavioral effects, possibly reflecting compensatory changes during
development. We administered a small-molecule synthetic enzyme
superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetic to wild-type (i.e. non-transgenic,
non-senescence accelerated) mice starting at middle age. Chronic
treatment not only reduced age-associated oxidative stress and
mitochondrial radical production, but significantly extended lifespan.
Treated mice also exhibited improved performance on the Morris water
maze learning and memory task. This is to our knowledge the first
demonstration that an administered antioxidant with mitochondrial
activity and nervous system penetration not only increases lifespan,
but rescues age-related cognitive impairment in mammals. SOD mimetics
with such characteristics may provide unique complements to genetic
strategies to study the contribution of oxidative processes to nervous
system aging.
PMID: 17079053
From full text:
"Here we show that an orally-administered SOD mimetic can
significantly increase lifespan and reduce mitochondrial free radical
production. [...] Non-transgenic C57BL6 mice which received C3 from
12 months of age had an increase in mean (11%) and median (15%)
lifespan (Fig. 2a). Calorie restriction (CR) initiated at 12 months
age extends mean lifespan by 14% (median lifespan by 16%) [36], a
shift in survival that is similar to ours. Since CR has also been
reported to improve free radical handling, this may indicate that
there are overlapping mechanisms between these two interventions. If
this is true, then one would predict that initiating treatment with C3
at 2-3 months of age would result in an even greater increase in
lifespan, since CR started at 2 months of age increases lifespan by
more than 25% [43]."