Researchers gain new insights into aging based on studies in dogs

Lab-based studies have provided lots of information on the biology of aging, but it's unclear how lab discoveries apply to aging in the real world. Research in Aging Cell provides insights into aging based on studies in dogs.

The Dog Aging Project (DAP) is designed to identify patterns of aging and how these are shaped by the diversity of genetic and environmental variation among companion dogs.

By analyzing metabolites from blood samples of dogs in the DAP, investigators identified effects of age on more than one-third of measured metabolites. They also discovered that post-translationally modified amino acids, which are generated from protein break-down, are strongly linked with age in dogs. These molecules might be promising indicators of physiological aging. Also, the study pointed to an important role of the kidney in the relationship between age and blood metabolites.

Because dogs age like humans, share our environment, and receive comparable healthcare, they're an ideal model for studying aging. Our hope is that blood metabolites like those studied here have the potential to serve as powerful biomarkers for tracking the processes that drive healthy aging, not only in dogs but in humans as well."

Daniel E.L. Promislow, PhD, corresponding author of Tufts University