Interactions of aging and environmental agents: the gerontological perspective
This article attempts to briefly review the current status of knowledge of biogerontology as a basis for a beginning set of discussions on the potential roles of environmental agents in the modulation of rates of aging in man. The article has tried to summarize what the toxicologist should know about gerontology, whereas a companion review, by Dr. Jerry Williams, summarizes what the gerontologist should know about toxicity. The review begins by defining some basic terminology, including introduction of the term gerontogens for those putative environmental agents that may in fact modulate the times of onset and/or rates of development of specific aspects of the senescent phenotype. That phenotype is then briefly described from the level of populations to the level of molecules, including an organ systems approach with emphasis on what is observed in humans. Among the important points that emerge from this description are: the variety of phenotypic alterations; the multiplicity of phenotypic alterations in any one aged individual; the special vulnerability in humans of the arterial system; the loss of proliferative homeostasis; the decline in the efficiency of enzyme adaptation; the decline in protein synthesis; the increasing evidence of post-translational modifications of proteins and DNA; the evidence for chromosomal instability (and, therefore, the potential importance of environmental clastogens). Arguments for a genetic basis for differential rates of aging are then developed, and a number of genotropic theories of aging are tabulated. It is concluded that no single theory is supported by a preponderance of evidence. 155 references.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle
- OSTI ID:
- 6496556
- Journal Information:
- Prog. Clin. Biol. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: Prog. Clin. Biol. Res.; (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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XENOBIOTICS
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AGING
CELL PROLIFERATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
MAN
PHENOTYPE
REVIEWS
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
DOCUMENT TYPES
MAMMALS
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VERTEBRATES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology