Direct comparison of methionine restriction with leucine restriction on the metabolic health of C57BL/6J mice

EKL was the recipient of a BBSRC postgraduate studentship. This work was funded by Tenovus Scotland project grant to MD and NM (G13/07) and BBSRC DTG. MD is also supported by the British Heart Foundation (PG/09/048/27675, PG/11/8/28703 and PG/14/43/30889) and Diabetes UK (14/0004853). NM is funded by British Heart Foundation (PG/16/90/32518).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Enhanced Longevity by Ibuprofen, Conserved in Multiple Species, Occurs in Yeast through Inhibition of Tryptophan Import

The common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen has been associated with a reduced risk of some age-related pathologies. However, a general pro-longevity role for ibuprofen and its mechanistic basis remains unclear. Here we show that ibuprofen increased the lifespan of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster, indicative of conserved eukaryotic longevity effects. Studies in yeast indicate that ibuprofen destabilizes the Tat2p permease and inhibits tryptophan uptake. Loss of Tat2p increased replicative lifespan (RLS), but ibuprofen did not increase RLS when Tat2p was stabilized or in an already long-lived strain background impaired for aromatic amino acid uptake. Concomitant with lifespan extension, ibuprofen moderately reduced cell size at birth, leading to a delay in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Similar changes in cell cycle progression were evident in a large dataset of replicatively long-lived yeast deletion strains. These results point to fundamental cell cycle signatures linked with longevity, implicate aromatic amino acid import in aging and identify a largely safe drug that extends lifespan across different kingdoms of life.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

Amino-acid imbalance explains extension of lifespan by dietary restriction in Drosophila

Dietary restriction extends healthy lifespan in diverse organisms and reduces fecundity(1,2). It is widely assumed to induce adaptive reallocation of nutrients from reproduction to somatic maintenance, aiding survival of food shortages in nature(3-6). If this were the case, long life under dietary restriction and high fecundity under full feeding would be mutually exclusive, through competition for the same limiting nutrients. Here we report a test of this idea in which we identified the nutrients producing the responses of lifespan and fecundity to dietary restriction in Drosophila. Adding essential amino acids to the dietary restriction condition increased fecundity and decreased lifespan, similar to the effects of full feeding, with other nutrients having little or no effect. However, methionine alone was necessary and sufficient to increase fecundity as much as did full feeding, but without reducing lifespan. Reallocation of nutrients therefore does not explain the responses to dietary restriction. Lifespan was decreased by the addition of amino acids, with an interaction between methionine and other essential amino acids having a key role. Hence, an imbalance in dietary amino acids away from the ratio optimal for reproduction shortens lifespan during full feeding and limits fecundity during dietary restriction. Reduced activity of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling pathway extends lifespan in diverse organisms(7), and we find that it also protects against the shortening of lifespan with full feeding. In other organisms, including mammals, it may be possible to obtain the benefits to lifespan of dietary restriction without incurring a reduction in fecundity, through a suitable balance of nutrients in the diet

Genitourinary disorders:Q 140

Clinical history and physical examination represent an important aspect in the management of infants and children with urological diseases. However, the role of instrumental and in particular of radiological examinations is fundamental for making a certain and correct diagnosis in all clinical cases