| First Author | Poetschke HL | Year | 2000 |
| Journal | Carcinogenesis | Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 11 | Pages | 1959-64 |
| PubMed ID | 11062154 | Mgi Jnum | J:66042 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1927766 | Doi | 10.1093/carcin/21.11.1959 |
| Citation | Poetschke HL, et al. (2000) Effects of calorie restriction on thymocyte growth, death and maturation. Carcinogenesis 21(11):1959-64 |
| abstractText | We previously reported that calorie restriction (CR) significantly delays the spontaneous development of thymic lymphomas and other neoplasms in p53-deficient mice and their wild-type littermates. The purpose of the present study was to further characterize the anti-lymphoma effects of CR by assessing thymocyte growth, death and maturation in response to acute (6 day) and chronic (28 day) CR regimens. Male C57BL/6J mice fed a CR diet (restricted to 60% of control ad libitum intake) for 6 days displayed a severe reduction in thymic size and cellularity, as well as a decrease in splenic size and cellularity; these declines were sustained through 28 days of CR. Mice maintained on a CR diet for 28 days also displayed a significant depletion in the cell numbers of all four major thymocyte subsets defined by CD4 and CD8 expression. Analysis within the immature CD4(-)8(-) thymocyte subset further revealed an alteration in normal CD44 and CD25 subset distribution. In particular, CR for 28 days resulted in a significant decrease in the percentage of the proliferative CD44(-)25(-) subset. In addition, a significant increase in the percentage of the early, pro-T cell CD44(+)25(-) population was detected, indicative of a CR-induced delay in thymocyte maturation. Taken together, these findings suggest that CR suppresses (through several putative mechanisms) lymphomagenesis by reducing the pool of immature thymocytes that constitute the lymphoma-susceptible subpopulation. |
