Fig. 5.

Adult-onset caloric restriction (CR) improves fertility, fecundity and offspring survival rates in aging females. (A–D) Summary of the fertile potential (A, expressed as the percentage of females in each group tested that achieved a pregnancy), total offspring delivered (B), fecundity (C, pups per litter; mean ± SEM), and offspring survival rates (D) in mating trials of continuously AL-fed control females (black lines in A–C) and in CR or CR-then-AL-fed females (red lines in A–C) at the indicated ages. Adult-onset CR females were allowed to resume AL feeding at 15.5 months of age for the remainder of the study period, as highlighted by grey shading in panels A–C. Note the improved outcomes in every endpoint analyzed (A–D) for CR females at each age bracket once AL feeding was resumed.