Microarray evaluation of dietary restriction.

Dietary restriction (DR) extends the life span and retards many age-related cellular and molecular changes in laboratory rodents. However, neither its underlying mechanism nor the limits of its action are fully understood. In this review, we assessed the effect of DR on gene expression in vertebrate and invertebrate animals using data generated by microarrays. Altered genes in DR mice reported in 15 articles published since 1999 were compared. A comparison of altered genes by DR in mice, rats, pigs, monkeys, yeast, and flies showed no common gene altered by DR among different species. It seems that individual genes altered in the expression by DR were constrained within species. When we compared the functions of altered genes across all species, we found that certain functions such as metabolism, energy metabolism, stress and immune response, cell growth, and transcription regulation were shared among species. Although individual genes seem to be affected by DR differently among species, the overall physiologic influence of DR may be similar.