Lemurs experience aging differently to humans, researchers say
Neither species showed age-related change in their oxidative stress levels.
A new study has suggested that lemurs do not experience age-related inflammation, also known as 'inflammaging'.
The project, which explored age-related inflammation in ring-tailed and sifaka lemurs, could have implications for how inflammaging in humans is treated.
Since lemurs and humans share common ancestors, scientific research into lemur health can offer insights into human evolution. Similarly, the differing lifespan and life pacing of ring-tailed and sifaka invites useful comparisons.
To investigate levels of inflammation in the lemurs, researchers had to measure oxidative stress in the animals' blood, urine or saliva. The team opted to measure oxidative stress in the lemurs' urine.
This experiment was conducted on both lemurs kept in captivity as well as those living in the wild.
In contrast to the researchers' predictions, neither the ring-tailed lemurs or the sifaka lemurs showed any age-related change in their oxidative stress levels. Similarly, neither species showed any inflammaging.
The researchers even found signs that ring-tailed lemurs had a decline of inflammation with age.
The evolutionary similarities between lemurs and humans has prompted the team to reconsider inflammation in humans. Inflammaging appears to increase with age in humans, causing heart disease, strokes, diabetes, cancer and osteoarthritis.
Researchers say that, if inflammation is not a universal feature of aging for humans, it could open up opportunities to explore its causes and preventative measures.
Elaine Guevara, who worked on the study, said: “There are a lot of good reasons to think that aging can be quite different in captivity and in the wild, and that in itself, is informative to evaluating the degree to which human inflammation is intrinsic versus environmental,”
She notes the research's possibility for human health, adding: “These insights are essential for mitigating disability and improving quality of life in later years.”
The study can be found in the Journal of Comparative Physiology B.
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