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Horm Metab Res 2002; 34(7): 378-382
DOI: 10.1055/s-2002-33469
Original Clinical
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Effects of Dietary Caloric Restriction and Aging on Thyroid Hormones of Rhesus Monkeys

G.  S.  Roth1 , A.  M.  Handy1 , J.  A.  Mattison1 , E.  M.  Tilmont1 , D.  K.  Ingram1 , M.  A.  Lane1
  • 1Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 24 September 2001

Accepted after revision: 27 February 2002

Publication Date:
21 August 2002 (online)

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Abstract

Plasma levels of thyroid hormones - triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxin (T4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured in male and female rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) fed either ad libitum or a 30 % calorie-restricted (CR) diet (males for 11 years; females for 6 years). The same hormones were measured in another group of young male rhesus monkeys during adaptation to the 30 % CR regimen. Both long- and shorter-term CR diet lowered total T3 in plasma of the monkeys. The effect appeared to be greater in younger monkeys than in older counterparts. No effects of CR diet were detected for either free or total T4, although unlike T3, levels of this hormone decreased with age. TSH levels also decreased with age, and were increased by long-term CR diet in older monkeys only. No consistent effects of shorter-term CR diet were observed for TSH. In the light of the effects of the thyroid axis on overall metabolism, these results suggest a possible mechanism by which CR diets may elicit their well-known beneficial ‘anti-aging’ effects in mammals.

Key words

Primate - Thyroxin - Triiodothyronine - Dietary Restriction

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G. S. Roth, Ph.D.

Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging ·

5600 Nathan Shock Drive · Baltimore, MD 21224 · USA

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