Declines in blood-based aging biomarkers in dolphins are associated with risk of developing clinically relevant, age-related conditions, a study finds. Aging is associated with the development of chronic diseases. Insights into biological factors that influence aging have been limited due to methodological shortfalls, such as uncontrolled environmental factors, infrequent sampling in human studies, and the use of short-lived animal models that may not recapitulate human aging. Stephanie Venn-Watson and colleagues looked for aging biomarkers in a well-controlled cohort of bottlenose dolphins, which are long-lived mammals that experience similar age-related conditions as humans. From 1994 through 2018, the authors collected 5,889 routine blood samples from 144 0- to 54-year old US Navy dolphins, all of which shared the same diet, healthcare, and environment. Of the 44 candidate aging biomarkers analyzed, significant age-related declines were observed for four biomarkers: hemoglobin (an iron-containing, oxygen-transport protein in red blood cells), alkaline phosphatase (an enzyme that may indicate liver or bone disease), platelets (cells involved in blood clotting), and immune cells called lymphocytes. Dolphins that displayed faster age-related declines in hemoglobin and lymphocytes were more likely to develop anemia and lymphopenia, which are conditions associated with aging in humans. According to the authors, the identification of aging rate variation in subsets of dolphins could lead to the development of strategies to slow the progression of aging and prevent chronic diseases in humans.
Article #19-18755: "A 25-y longitudinal dolphin cohort supports that long-lived individuals in same environment exhibit variation in aging rates," by Stephanie Venn-Watson, Eric D. Jensen, and Nicholas J. Schork.
MEDIA CONTACT: Stephanie Venn-Watson, Epitracker, Inc., San Diego, CA; e-mail: stephanie@epitracker.com
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences