The effects of dietary restriction on immune function and development of autoimmune disease in BXSB mice.

Abstract

Chronic energy intake restriction (CEIR) prolonged the median life span and inhibited autoimmunity and development of autoimmune disease in BXSB mice, as has been established for mice of several other autoimmune-prone, short-lived strains. Whether imposed just after weaning or delayed until manifestations of disease had appeared, CEIR inhibited or reversed development of autoimmunity and immune complex-based renal disease in male BXSB mice. CEIR also prevented the formation of anti-DNA antibodies and prevented the increase in circulating immune complex levels that is typically observed in male mice of this strain. Moreover, CEIR inhibited development of splenomegaly and prevented the normal age-associated decline of a number of immunological functions, including interleukin 2 production, cellmediated cytotoxic responses, and mixed lymphocyte reactivity. The observed improvement in cell-mediated immune responses was attributed largely to the capacity of CEIR to inhibit development of the splenomegaly that occurs concomitant with expansion of a non-T, non-B lymphoid cell population. These findings emphasize that CEIR, even when imposed relatively late in life in BXSB mice, can influence expression of autoimmunities and autoimmune diseases of different genetic origins and presumed pathogenetic bases.

Beneficial Effects of Mild Stress (Hormetic Effects): Dietary Restriction and Health

“…The effect of fasting was assessed in a randomized, single-blind controlled trial (Kjeldsen-Kragh et al, 1991). This beneficial effect on autoimmune disease is also consistent with the results of an animal study (Kubo et al, 1992). However, to demonstrate an evidence of clinical use, there are still few data about the DR and human inflammatory disease.…”

“…Animal studies have shown that DR can prevent or lessen the severity of cancer (Chen et al, 1990), stroke (Yu and Mattson, 1999), coronary heart disease (Ahmet et al, 2005), autoimmune disease (Kubo et al, 1992), allergy (Nakamura et al, 2004), and Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease (Mattson et al, 2003). Thus, evidence is now strong for the association between DR and disease protection in experimental animals.…”

“…Chronic DR also reduces ischemic brain damage (Yu and Mattson, 1999) and protects the heart from ischemic injury (Ahmet et al, 2005). Furthermore, DR inhibits the development of autoimmune disease in several strains of mice (Kubo et al, 1992), and delays the onset and progression of spontaneous (Fan et al, 2001) and chemically-induced (Nakamura et al, 2004) allergic dermatitis. DR also increases resistance to neurotoxins in experimental models relevant to Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease (Mattson et al, 2003).…”

Calorie restriction attenuates LPS-induced sickness behavior and shifts hypothalamic signaling pathways to an anti-inflammatory bias

“…It has been well established that CR can exert positive effects upon the life span and certain age-related diseases (2,8,14,39,40,43,53,54,71,76,79). This study demonstrated that a period of CR can attenuate sickness behavior following LPS administration.…”

Stress-Induced Alterations in Prefrontal Cortical Dendritic Morphology Predict Selective Impairments in Perceptual Attentional Set-Shifting

“…The fact that our results are in close agreement suggests that dietary restriction did not confound our findings. Indeed, numerous reports indicate that mild dietary restriction can prolong life span, ameliorate age-related declines in physiologic functions, and reduce the incidence of autoimmune disease (Weindruch and Walford, 1988;Kubo et al, 1992). The fact that these results were highly replicable also highlights the utility of iontophoretic cell loading, which facilitates more precise morphometry relative to the Golgi technique by ensuring that cells are completely filled and by eliminating overlapping dendritic fields.…”