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Why eating less slows ageing: this molecule is key
A naturally occurring compound involved in digestion lengthens lifespan in flies and makes old mice more youthful.
In two papers 1, 2 published on 18 December in Nature, researchers show that lithocholic acid can extend lifespan in nematodes ( Caenorhabditis elegans) and fruit flies ( Drosophila melanogaster), and make old mice spry again. But constant hunger is not the only price of calorie restriction, which can involve slashing caloric intake by more than half; studies have also linked it to loss of lean muscle mass, difficulty in regulating body temperature and possibly increased risk of infection, says Andrea Di Francesco, who studies the biology of ageing at Calico Life Sciences, a biotechnology company in South San Francisco, California. Biochemist Sheng-Cai Lin at Xiamen University in China and his collaborators decided to sift through the myriad metabolic changes caused by calorie restriction in mice to search for compounds that can turn on AMPK 1.
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