title: Accumulation of dolichol in older tissues satisfies the proposed criteria to be qualified a biomarker of aging.
abstract: Criteria for defining biomarkers have been suggested. Accumulation of dolichol in tissues of older animals meets the following criteria: (a) levels of dolichol exhibit a quantitative correlation with age in all tissues and are not altered by several age-dependent diseases in the same direction as that of aging; (b) accumulation is not secondary to metabolic changes of aging and is altered appropriately by factors that modulate the aging rate like caloric restriction and physical exercise; (c) biomarker is applicable to different tissues across mammalian species, including humans, and to trisomy 21 and its hypothalamic digoxin-mediated model. Reliable changes in tissue dolichol levels are seen in relatively short intervals of time compared to over a life span, and levels can be tested on a small amount of tissue without causing death of the animal. In this article, we show applications to the study of host-graft interaction and detection of gender-related differences in biological age, and we discuss mechanism(s) of accumulation.
authors.affiliation: Centro di Ricerca di Biologia e Patologia dell'Invecchiamento, Via Roma 55-Scuola Medica, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Parentini
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cavallini
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Donati
authors.forename: Zina
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gori
authors.forename: Ettore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bergamini
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D004286:Dolichols / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004286:Dolichols