Lower body temperature as a potential mechanism of life extension in homeotherms

Although best known for his studies on the anti-aging effects of dietary restriction, Dr Roy Walford began his career by studying the anti-aging effects of lowering body temperature. As a tribute to his long and productive career, we review these pioneering studies and the singular influence these have had on our own thinking about the potential for lower body temperature to extend the life span of homeotherms. We show our results from a study of six classical inbred strains of mice that depict marked strain variation in the body temperature response to dietary restriction. In addition, we show a genome scan from a recombinant inbred strain panel in which we identified a significant quantitative trait locus on murine chromosome 9 and a provisional locus on chromosome 17 that specify variation in the response of body temperature to dietary restriction. These discoveries suggest that we can now extend the studies of Dr Walford to critically test whether lower body temperature can prolong the life span of mammals. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.