title: Behavioral, endocrine and immunological characteristics of a murine model of premature aging.
abstract: We have previously shown that differences in life span among members of Swiss mouse populations appear to be related to their exploration of a T-maze, with a slow exploration ('slow mice') being linked to alteration of spontaneous behavior and monoaminergic systems, impaired immune function and shorter life span. In general these traits resemble some of the characteristics of chronologically old animals. Thus, we proposed the 'slow mice' as a model of prematurely aging mice (PAM). Now, we have compared female PAM with non-prematurely aging mice (NPAM) as regards a number of behavioral, endocrine and immunological parameters which were studied under both basal and stress conditions. In the present study the animals were chronologically younger than those used in our previous work. When compared to NPAM, the PAM showed increased anxiogenic-like responses in the plus-maze, increased basal corticosterone levels and decreased corticosterone responses to stress. The PAM also showed a decreased natural killer activity as well as decreased lymphoproliferative responses to mitogens. Moreover, the mitogen-induced lymphoproliferative responses of the PAM appeared to be more susceptible to stress. The data indicate that certain characteristics of the PAM are already present in animals of very young chronological age and provide new information for a more complete characterization of the PAM from a neuroimmunoendocrine viewpoint.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Fisiología (Fisiología Animal II), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Complutense, Ciudad Universitaria, C/ Jose Antonio Novais, 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pérez-Alvarez
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baeza
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arranz
authors.forename: Eva M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Marco
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Borcel
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guaza
authors.forename: Maria P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Viveros
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D019588:Aging, Premature / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004702:Endocrine Glands / Q000503:physiopathology; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018782:Maze Learning; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D003345:Corticosterone