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Rotifers in aging research: use of rotifers to test various theories of aging

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Abstract

Four theories of aging are discussed to examine how effectively they might explain the aging process in rotifers. One of the early theories, the rate of living theory of aging can perhaps be discounted. Although the theory predicts that increased biological energy expenditure, in the form of increased activity or reproduction, would lead to a shorter lifespan, these predictions are not born out by experimental evidence. At the whole animal level, a case can be made for a theory of programmed aging, where the end of reproduction signals the end of the lifespan. Support for this view comes from the observation that lifespan is positively correlated with reproductive parameters, that treatments that extend lifespan usually act to extend the reproductive period, and that the end of reproduction is associated with high mortality and senescent biochemical changes. Two molecular theories of aging are also discussed; the free radical theory of aging and the calcium theory of aging. These theories point to the fact that molecular damage accumulates and that calcium influx increases in the course of aging. When free radical buildup or calcium homeostasis is reduced, lifespan is extended. A molecular explanation of aging does not necessarily exclude the idea of programmed aging. It is probable that an eventual understanding of the aging process will rest on both a physiological and molecular basis.

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  1. Department of Biology, Concordia University, 455 de Maisonneuve Boulevard West, H3G 1MB, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Hildegard E. Enesco

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Enesco, H.E. Rotifers in aging research: use of rotifers to test various theories of aging. Hydrobiologia 255, 59–70 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00025821

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