Role of dietary amino acid balance in diet restriction-mediated lifespan extension, renoprotection, and muscle weakness in aged mice.

Abstract

Extending healthy lifespan is an emerging issue in an aging society. This study was designed to identify a dietary method of extending lifespan, promoting renoprotection, and preventing muscle weakness in aged mice, with a focus on the importance of the balance between dietary essential (EAAs) and nonessential amino acids (NEAAs) on the dietary restriction (DR)-induced antiaging effect. Groups of aged mice were fed ad libitum, a simple DR, or a DR with recovering NEAAs or EAAs. Simple DR significantly extended lifespan and ameliorated age-related kidney injury; however, the beneficial effects of DR were canceled by recovering dietary EAA but not NEAA. Simple DR prevented the age-dependent decrease in slow-twitch muscle fiber function but reduced absolute fast-twitch muscle fiber function. DR-induced fast-twitch muscle fiber dysfunction was improved by recovering either dietary NEAAs or EAAs. In the ad libitum-fed and the DR plus EAA groups, the renal content of methionine, an EAA, was significantly higher, accompanied by lower renal production of hydrogen sulfide (H₂ S), an endogenous antioxidant. Finally, removal of methionine from the dietary EAA supplement diminished the adverse effects of dietary EAA on lifespan and kidney injury in the diet-restricted aged mice, which were accompanied by a recovery in H₂ S production capacity and lower oxidative stress. These data imply that a dietary approach could combat kidney aging and prolong lifespan, while preventing muscle weakness, and suggest that renal methionine metabolism and the trans-sulfuration pathway could be therapeutic targets for preventing kidney aging and subsequently promoting healthy aging.