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Physical Performance and Longevity in Aged Rats

^a Departments of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatrics
^b Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Christy S. Carter, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, PTCRC Building, Winston-Salem, NC 27157 E-mail: chrcarte{at}wfubmc.edu.

Decision Editor: John A. Faulkner, PhD

In humans, physical performance declines with increasing age, and in nondisabled older persons, scores on standardized performance measures, such as walking speed, repeated chair stands, and a balance test, predict the incidence of disability and reduced longevity. Here we show in aged rats (24-month-old Brown Norway x Fischer 344 male rats; n = 48) that conceptually similar performance measures, such as swimming speed and an inclined plane procedure, can be assessed longitudinally, and that over 6 months of follow-up from the age of 24 to 30 months, performance declines progressively with increasing age. High baseline performance scores predict long-term longevity, a relationship that is also found in humans. The application of standardized physical performance measures to a variety of animal models of aging may help to define similarities between species in the underlying mechanisms of the age-related decline in performance, disability, and longevity.

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				C. S. Carter, G. Onder, S. B. Kritchevsky, and M. Pahor Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibition Intervention in Elderly Persons: Effects on Body Composition and Physical Performance J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., November 1, 2005; 60(11): 1437 - 1446. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]