Skip to main content
PMC home page
Elsevier - PMC COVID-19 Collection logoLink to Elsevier - PMC COVID-19 Collection
. 2000 Feb 17;30(5):485–494. doi: 10.1016/0531-5565(95)00002-X

Within-and between-strain variability in longevity of inbred and outbred rats under the same environmental conditions

Orlando Ghirardi 1,∗, Roberto Cozzolino 1, Donatella Guaraldi 1, Alessandro Giuliani 1
PMCID: PMC7134852  PMID: 8557096

Abstract

The analysis of 26 longevity curves of different populations of inbred (Fischer 344) and outbred (Sprague-Dawley) rats highlighted a remarkable between-populations variability in survival parameters. This variability is independent of the breeding characteristics of the strain. The two strains differed in the slope of the survival curves, with Fischer 344 rats showing a higher survival over the second year of life as well as a lower interindividual variability. A model-free approach based on principal component analysis allowed us to quantify these differences and to highlight some limitations of the classical Gompertzian approach.

Keywords: Aging, animal models, longevity, life span, rats, genetics, phenotypic variability, Fischer 344, Sprague-Dawley, Gompertz' law, Principal Component Analysis

References

  1. Adelman R.C., Britton G.W., Rotemberg S., Ceci L., Karoly K. Endocrine regulation of enzyme activity in aging animals of different genotypes. In: Bergsma D., Harrison D.E., editors. Genetic Effects on Aging, Birth defect original article series. A.R. Liss Inc; New York: 1978. pp. 355–364. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Armitage P. Blackwell Scientific Publications; Oxford: 1971. Statistical Methods in Medical Research. [Google Scholar]
  3. Chesky J., Rockstein M. Life span characteristics in the male Fischer rat. Exp. Aging Res. 1976;2:399–407. doi: 10.1080/03610737608257998. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chialvo D.R., Gilmour R.F., Jalife J. Low dimensional chaos in cardiac tissue. Nature. 1990;343:653–656. doi: 10.1038/343653a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Clough G. Suggested guidelines for the housing and husbandry of rodents for aging studies. Neurobiol. Aging. 1991;12:653–658. doi: 10.1016/0197-4580(91)90116-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Coates M.E. Nutritional considerations in the production of rodents for aging studies. Neurobiol. Aging. 1991;12:679–682. doi: 10.1016/0197-4580(91)90121-y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Coleman G.L., Barthold S.W., Osbaldiston G.W., Foster S.J., Jones A.M. Pathological changes during aging in barrier-reared Fischer 344 male rats. J. Gerontol. 1977;32:258–278. doi: 10.1093/geronj/32.3.258. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Committee on Animal Models for Research on Aging, editor. Mammalian Models for research on Aging. National Academy Press; Washington D.C: 1981. pp. 75–132. [Google Scholar]
  9. Festing M.F.W. Genetic quality control of laboratory animals used in aging studies. Neurobiol. Aging. 1991;12:673–677. doi: 10.1016/0197-4580(91)90120-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Festing M.F.W. Genetic variation in outbred rats and mice and its implications for toxicological screening. J. Exp. Anim. Sci. 1993;35:210–220. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Finch C.E., Pike M.C., Witten M. Slow mortality rate accelerations during aging in some animals approximate that humans. Science. 1990;249:902–905. doi: 10.1126/science.2392680. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Foisil L. Sprague-Dawley & stratÄgie d'Älevage pour le maintien de la variabilitÄ gÄnÄtique. ThÅse d'universitÄ, UniversitÄ d'Orleans; 1989. Identification gÄnÄtique de la souche nonconsanguine de rats: Ofa. [Google Scholar]
  13. Hoffman H.J. Survival distributions for selected laboratory rat strains and stocks. In: Gibson D.C., Adelman R.C., Finch C., editors. Development of the Rodent as a Model System of Aging, Book II. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; Washington, D.C: 1979. pp. 19–34. (DHEW Pub. No. (NIH) 79-161). [Google Scholar]
  14. Holloszy J.O., Smith E.K., Vining M., Adams S. Effect of voluntary exercise on longevity of rats. J. Appl. Physiol. 1985;59:826–831. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1985.59.3.826. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. IFFA CREDO, editor. Laboratory Animals (catalogue) Edico Publicis-ATL; France: 1990. pp. 30–55. [Google Scholar]
  16. Iwasaki K., Gleiser C.A., Masoro E.J., McMahan C.A., Seo E., Yu B.P. The influence of dietary protein source on longevity and age-related disease processes of Fischer rats. J. Gerontol. 1988;43:5–12. doi: 10.1093/geronj/43.1.b5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Jones M.C., Rice J.A. Displaying the important features of large collections of similar curves. Am. Stat. 1992;46:140–145. [Google Scholar]
  18. Kirkwood T.B.L. Comparative life spans of species: Why do species have the life spans they do? Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1992;55:1191S–1195S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/55.6.1191Sa. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Lebart L., Morineau A., Warwick K.M. John Wiley & Sons; New York: 1984. Multivariate Descriptive Statistical Analysis. [Google Scholar]
  20. Marquardt D.W. An algorithm for least-squares estimation of nonlinear parameters. J. Soc. Ind. Appl. Math. 1963;11:431–441. [Google Scholar]
  21. Masoro E.J. Use of rodents as model for the study of “normal aging”: Conceptual and practical issues. Neurobiol. Aging. 1991;12:639–643. doi: 10.1016/0197-4580(91)90114-y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Phelan J.P., Austad S.N. Selecting animals models of human aging: Inbred strains often exhibit less biological uniformity than Fl hybrids. J. Gerontol. 1994;49:B1–B11. doi: 10.1093/geronj/49.1.b1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Pitsikas N., Algeri S. Deterioration of Spatial and nonspatial reference and working memory in aged rats: Protective effect of life-long calorie restriction. Neurobiol. Aging. 1992;13:369–373. doi: 10.1016/0197-4580(92)90110-j. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Riggs J.E. Longitudinal Gompertzian analysis of prostate cancer mortality in the U.S. 1962-1987: A method of demonstrating relative environmental genetic, and competitive influences upon mortality. Mech. Ageing Dev. 1991;60:243–253. doi: 10.1016/0047-6374(91)90037-z. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Sass S.H., Rabstein L.S., Madison R., Nims R.M., Peters R.C., Kelloff G. Incidence of spontaneous neoplasms in F344 rats throughout the natural life span. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 1975;54:1449–1456. doi: 10.1093/jnci/54.6.1449. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Stahle L., Wold S. Multivariate data analysis and experimental design in biomedical research. Prog. Med. Chem. 1988;25:292–337. doi: 10.1016/s0079-6468(08)70281-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wilson D.L. A comparison of methods for estimating mortality parameters from survival data. Mech. Ageing Dev. 1993;66:269–281. doi: 10.1016/0047-6374(93)90014-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Experimental Gerontology are provided here courtesy of Elsevier

RESOURCES