Summary1. Extension of life span by food shortage, often mimicked by calorie restriction (CR) in the laboratory, is one of the most common life-history alterations in eukaryotes. Although the lifehistory of offspring often changes in response to the parental environment, it has remained ambiguous whether or not CR-induced longevity is transmitted to the next generation. 2. Here, we investigated the effects of CR on life span, oxidative stress resistance and the expression levels of two antioxidant enzymes, catalase and manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn SOD), in the parthenogenetic rotifer Brachionus plicatilis during two consecutive generations. 3. Rotifers under CR lived 50% longer than those fed ad libitum (AL) in association with enhancement of oxidative stress resistance and increased mRNA levels of catalase and Mn SOD. 4. The daughters from the CR-treated mothers lived 20% longer than those from the mothers fed AL regardless of food-rich and CR conditions for the daughter. Furthermore, the daughters from the CR-treated mothers were endowed at birth with a higher ability to resist oxidative stress and the increased mRNA levels for catalase, but not for Mn SOD. In agreement with the mRNA expression patterns, CR increased the protein levels of catalase and Mn SOD in eggs and the whole body of mothers, respectively. 5. Our results for these asexually reproducing rotifers provide the first evidence that the longevity and oxidative stress resistance resulting from CR can be passed on to subsequent generations.

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The rotifer Brachionus plicatilis shows a typical sigmoid growth curve, where calorie restriction (CR) and hypoxia are thought to be introduced at high population density in the stationary phase. CR may induce a shift from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism in this stationary phase, possibly contributing to an increased hypoxia tolerance. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of CR on hypoxia tolerance at the molecular level. When rotifers were cultured under CR (fed every second day) or fed ad libitum (AL), and subsequently exposed to hypoxia, those in the CR group had a higher survival rate than their AL counterparts. We then cloned cDNAs encoding three glycolytic enzymes, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), enolase (ENO), and phosphoglycerate mutase (PGM) and compared their accumulated mRNA levels between CR and AL rotifers at ages of 1-8 days by quantitative real-time PCR. The CR group showed significantly higher mRNA levels of GAPDH and ENO than their AL counterparts. Furthermore, rotifers in the stationary phase showed higher mRNA levels of these enzymes than those in the exponential growth phase. These results suggest that CR induces anaerobic metabolism, which possibly contributes to population stability under hypoxia in the stationary phase.

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) promote a conversion of harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) to relatively moderate forms, resulting in the extension of lifespan in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans under caloric restriction. The lifespan of the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis is also markedly extended by caloric restriction. We, therefore, cloned cDNA encoding SOD activated with Mn (Mn SOD) from B. plicatilis and examined its expression pattern in rotifers raised with energy restricted diet. The full length deduced amino acid sequence of the rotifer Mn SOD showed 61% identity with the C. elegans ortholog. Four amino acid residues that are essential to the binding of this enzyme to Mn were conserved in the rotifer Mn SOD. Subsequently we examined the mRNA expression patterns of Mn SOD using highly sensitive quantitative real-time PCR for various rotifer populations that are likely to differ in their lifespans in experiments on calorie restricted diets. The accumulated mRNA levels of Mn SOD were found to increase in supposedly long-lived rotifers. These results suggest that Mn SOD is possibly related to the aging of B. plicatilis.

Introduction:As there have been no reports concerning the relationship between incontinence and disease severity in patients in the prehospital setting, a retrospective investigation examined this relationship using data from Shimoda Fire Department.Method:Patients who were transported by Shimoda Fire Department from January 2019 to December 2021 were investigated. The following details of the subjects were collected: age, sex, contents of incontinence, season of transportation, weather, wind speed, temperature, place of collapse, scene time, classification of disease, disease severity (as judged by a physician at a receiving hospital) and mortality rate at the initial treatment. The subjects were divided into groups based on the existence of incontinence at the scene or not (Incontinence [+] and Incontinence [-]). We compared the variables mentioned above between these groups.Results:There were 499 cases with incontinence and 8,241 cases without incontinence. There were no significant differences between the two groups with respect to weather and wind speed. The average age, percentage of male patients, percentage of cases in the winter season, rate of collapse at home, scene time, rate of endogenous disease, disease severity, and mortality rate in the Incontinence (+) group were significantly greater in comparison to the Incontinence (-) group, while the average temperature in the Incontinence (+) group was significantly lower than that in the Incontinence (-) group. Regarding the rates of incontinence of each disease, neurologic, infectious, endocrinal disease, dehydration, suffocation and cardiac arrest at the scene had more than twice the rate of incontinence in other conditions.Conclusion:This is the first study to report that patients with incontinence at the scene tended to be older, showed a male predominance, severe disease, high mortality, and required a long scene time in comparison to patients without incontinence. Prehospital care providers should therefore check for incontinence when evaluating patients.