Adiponectin preserves metabolic fitness during aging
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, United States
- Baylor College of Medicine, United States
- Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, China
- Yale University School of Medicine, United States
Abstract
Adiponectin is essential for the regulation of tissue substrate utilization and systemic insulin sensitivity. Clinical studies have suggested a positive association of circulating adiponectin with healthspan and lifespan. However, the direct effects of adiponectin on promoting healthspan and lifespan remain unexplored. Here, we are using an adiponectin null mouse and a transgenic adiponectin overexpression model. We directly assessed the effects of circulating adiponectin on the aging process and found that adiponectin null mice display exacerbated age-related glucose and lipid metabolism disorders. Moreover, adiponectin null mice have a significantly shortened lifespan on both chow and high-fat diet (HFD). In contrast, a transgenic mouse model with elevated circulating adiponectin levels has a dramatically improved systemic insulin sensitivity, reduced age-related tissue inflammation and fibrosis, and a prolonged healthspan and median lifespan. These results support a role of adiponectin as an essential regulator for healthspan and lifespan.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
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Author details
Funding
National Institutes of Health (P01-AG051459)
- Philipp E Scherer
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2021, Li et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Adiponectin preserves metabolic fitness during aging
eLife 10:e65108.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.65108
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