Measures of Healthspan as Indices of Aging in Mice--A Recommendation

In this report, we describe the utility and the limitations of assays in mice currently available for measuring a wide range of physiological functions that potentially impact quality of life. We encourage investigators and reviewers alike to expect at minimum an overall assessment of health in several domains across several ages before an intervention is labeled as "increasing healthspan." In addition, it is important that investigators indicate any tests in which the treated group did worse or did not differ statistically from controls because overall health is a complex phenotype, and no intervention discovered to date improves every aspect of health. Finally, we strongly recommend that functional measurements be performed in both males and females so that sex differences in the rate of functional decline in different domains are taken into consideration.

Source: Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences - March 7, 2016 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Richardson, A., Fischer, K. E., Speakman, J. R., de Cabo, R., Mitchell, S. J., Peterson, C. A., Rabinovitch, P., Chiao, Y. A., Taffet, G., Miller, R. A., Renteria, R. C., Bower, J., Ingram, D. K., Ladiges, W. C., Ikeno, Y., Sierra, F., Austad, S. N. Tags: Perspective Source Type: research