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Lifelong Caloric Restriction and Interleukin-6 Secretion From Adipose Tissue: Effects on Physical Performance Decline in Aged Rats

¹ Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, The State University of New York at Buffalo.
Departments of ² Physiology and Pharmacology and ³ Biostatistical Sciences, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
⁴ Department of Aging and Geriatric Research and the University of Florida Institute on Aging, University of Florida, and Geriatrics Research, Education and Clinical Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, Florida.

Address correspondence to Tongjian You, PhD, Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, The State University of New York at Buffalo, 214A Kimball Tower, Buffalo, NY 14214. E-mail: tyou{at}buffalo.edu

We investigated whether caloric restriction (CR) improves physical performance in a rodent model of aging, and whether this effect is accompanied with a decrease in visceral adipose tissue production of proinflammatory cytokines. Body composition, standardized physical performance measures, as well as in vitro visceral adipose tissue cytokine secretion and circulating levels of an inflammatory marker were cross-sectionally assessed in ad libitum (AL)-fed and lifelong CR Fischer 344 x Brown Norway male rats aged 18, 24, and 29 months. Fat to lean mass ratio increased and physical performance declined with age in the AL rats. Compared to AL rats, CR rats had lower fat mass, fat to lean ratio, adipose tissue secretion of interleukin-6, and circulating levels of C-reactive protein, and higher physical performance scores. Therefore, CR may be an effective intervention for improving functional status into advanced age and is perhaps mediated via a reduction in adipose tissue-generated proinflammatory cytokine production.