| Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology |
Intramural Program Investigators ^ Home ^ |
| Julie A. Mattison, Ph.D., Staff Scientist Facility Head, NIA Primate Aging Study |
 Dr. Julie Mattison received a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego, a M.S. in Exercise Physiology from Central Washington University and completed her education at Southern Illinois University with a Ph.D. in Physiology. Dr. Mattison came to NIA in 2000 as a postdoctoral fellow with a cross appointment in the Laboratories of Neurosciences and Cardiovascular Science to manage the ongoing study of calorie restriction in nonhuman primates and begin new studies of nutrition and vascular aging. In 2004, she became a contract Facility Head of the nonhuman primate program and was appointed as a Staff Scientist/Facility Head in 2006.
Primate Aging Studies: The NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, Maryland is home to the NIA Primate Aging Study. Although the primary focus has been a long-term study of calorie restriction, the Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology (LEG) has collaborated with the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science (LCS) to study additional projects of dietary interventions that more specifically affect cardiovascular aging. |
| Dietary calorie restriction (CR) has been shown to benefit health and longevity in a wide variety of species, although most have maximal lifespans of only a few years. In 1987, the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program began the first well controlled long-term study in a species with a considerably longer lifespan and a closer physiology to humans. Using rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), an extensive array of physiological measures have been conducted in both male and females to evaluate the effects of CR. A smaller group of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) has also been studied. Although it is not yet known if CR extends maximal lifespan in these long-lived primate species, our findings indicate that physiological responses are in general agreement with the extensive literature in rodents and that nonhuman primates on CR are likely to experience fewer incidences and less severe effects of age-related disease, in particular, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. |
| With an average lifespan of 25 years and a maximum of 40 years, studies of longevity in rhesus monkeys are challenging to conduct. Effective anti-aging interventions should result in decreasing the incidence and delaying the age of onset of characteristic age-related diseases and pathology. In addition, there must be maintenance of cellular, organ, physiologic, and behavioral function into old age. By using criteria in the three main categories of mortality, morbidity, and function, the NIA hopes to clearly establish whether CR retards the rate of aging in rhesus monkeys. |
| Two additional studies of age-related disease focus on cardiovascular disease and dietary interventions. These studies are being conducted in collaboration with the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Science (LCS). Although there is considerable evidence linking salt intake to hypertension, how this dietary variable is involved in remodeling of the vascular wall to affect arterial stiffness is still unknown. The effect of an incrementally increased salt load on vascular stiffness and modulation of this response by production of an endogenous ligand, marinobufagenin, is being studied in nine old normotensive male rhesus monkeys. |
| A second study in progress consists of monkeys over a broad age range eating either a diet moderately high in cholesterol or a low cholesterol control diet. The aims of this study are threefold: 1) To demonstrate links between the vascular changes present with aging and the early development and progression of atherosclerotic lesions; 2) To determine plasma biochemical markers which correlate with age-related vascular remodeling and atherogenesis; and 3) To validate the value of contrast enhanced-magnetic resonance imaging as a noninvasive diagnosis of atherosclerosis. |
| Contact Information:
Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology Biomedical Research Center 251 Bayview Boulevard, Suite 100 Baltimore, MD 21224 E mail mattisonj@mail.nih.gov For more information about the Laboratory: http://www.grc.nia.nih.gov/branches/leg/leg.htm |
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