SHORT TAKE
Visceral adipose tissue modulates mammalian longevity
Radhika Muzumdar 1,2,31Institute for Aging Research, and Departments
of 2Medicine and 3Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine,
Bronx, New York, NY, USA , David B. Allison 44Section on Statistical
Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA,
Derek M. Huffman 1,21Institute for Aging Research, and Departments of
2Medicine and , Xiaohui Ma 1,21Institute for Aging Research, and
Departments of 2Medicine and , Gil Atzmon 1,21Institute for Aging
Research, and Departments of 2Medicine and , Francine H. Einstein
1,21Institute for Aging Research, and Departments of 2Medicine and ,
Sigal Fishman 1,21Institute for Aging Research, and Departments of
2Medicine and , Aruna D. Poduval 1,2,31Institute for Aging Research,
and Departments of 2Medicine and 3Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College
of Medicine, Bronx, New York, NY, USA , Theresa McVei 44Section on
Statistical Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham,
AL, USA, Scott W. Keith 44Section on Statistical Genetics, University
of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA and Nir Barzilai
1,21Institute for Aging Research, and Departments of 2Medicine and
1Institute for Aging Research, and Departments of 2Medicine and
3Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, NY,
USA 4Section on Statistical Genetics, University of Alabama at
Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
Radhika Muzumdar and David B. Allison contributed equally to this
work.

Correspondence
Nir Barzilai, MD, Department of Medicine and Molecular Genetics and
Institute for Aging Research, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 701
Belfer Bldg, 1300 Morris Park Ave., Bronx, NY 10461, USA. Tel.
718-430-3144; fax: 718-430-8557; e-mail: barzilai at (no spam) aecom.yu.edu
Key words: aging; lifespan; obesity; caloric restriction; visceral fat
removal.
Summary

Caloric restriction (CR) can delay many age-related diseases and
extend lifespan, while an increase in adiposity is associated with
enhanced disease risk and accelerated aging. Among the various fat
depots, the accrual of visceral fat (VF) is a common feature of aging,
and has been shown to be the most detrimental on metabolic syndrome of
aging in humans. We have previously demonstrated that surgical removal
of VF in rats improves insulin action; thus, we set out to determine
if VF removal affects longevity. We prospectively studied lifespan in
three groups of rats: ad libitum-fed (AL-fed), CR (Fed 60% of AL) and
a group of AL-fed rats with selective removal of VF at 5 months of age
(VF-removed rats). We demonstrate that compared to AL-fed rats, VF-
removed rats had a significant increase in mean (p < 0.001) and
maximum lifespan (p < 0.04) and significant reduction in the incidence
of severe renal disease (p < 0.01). CR rats demonstrated the greatest
mean and maximum lifespan (p < 0.001) and the lowest rate of death as
compared to AL-fed rats (0.13). Taken together, these observations
provide the most direct evidence to date that a reduction in fat mass,
specifically VF, may be one of the possible underlying mechanisms of
the anti-aging effect of CR.








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aging
lifespan
obesity
caloric restriction
visceral fat removal
By author
Radhika Muzumdar
David B. Allison
Derek M. Huffman
Xiaohui Ma
Gil Atzmon
Francine H. Einstein
Sigal Fishman
Aruna D. Poduval
Theresa McVei
Scott W. Keith
Nir Barzilai