Abstract

Relationships of growth, metabolism, reproduction, and body size to the biological process of aging and longevity have been studied for decades and various unifying “theories of aging” have been proposed to account for the observed associations. In general, fast development, early sexual maturation leading to early reproductive effort, as well as production of many offspring, have been linked to shorter lifespans. The relationship of adult body size to longevity includes a remarkable contrast between the positive correlation in comparisons between different species and the negative correlation seen in comparisons of individuals within the same species. We now propose that longevity and presumably also the rate of aging are related to the “pace-of-life.” A slow pace-of-life including slow growth, late sexual maturation, and a small number of offspring, predicts slow aging and long life. The fast pace of life (rapid growth, early sexual maturation, and major reproductive effort) is associated with faster aging and shorter life, presumably due to underlying trade-offs. The proposed relationships between the pace-of-life and longevity apply to both inter- and intra-species comparisons as well as to dietary, genetic, and pharmacological interventions that extend life and to evidence for early life programming of the trajectory of aging. Although available evidence suggests the causality of at least some of these associations, much further work will be needed to verify this interpretation and to identify mechanisms that are responsible.

中文翻译：

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发育、生长、体型、繁殖、衰老和长寿之间的关系——权衡和生活节奏

摘要

生长、新陈代谢、繁殖和体型与衰老和长寿的生物过程的关系已经被研究了几十年，并且已经提出了各种统一的“衰老理论”来解释观察到的关联。一般来说，快速发育、早期性成熟导致早期繁殖努力以及产生许多后代，都与较短的寿命有关。成年体型与寿命的关系包括不同物种之间的正相关与同一物种内的个体之间的负相关之间的显着对比。我们现在提出，寿命以及衰老速度可能都与“生活节奏”有关。缓慢的生活节奏，包括生长缓慢、性成熟晚和后代数量少，预示着衰老缓慢和长寿。快节奏的生活（快速生长、早期性成熟和繁重的繁殖努力）与更快的衰老和更短的寿命有关，这可能是由于潜在的权衡所致。所提出的生活节奏和寿命之间的关系适用于物种间和物种内的比较，以及延长寿命的饮食、遗传和药物干预，以及衰老轨迹的早期生命规划的证据。尽管现有证据表明至少其中一些关联存在因果关系，但仍需要开展更多工作来验证这种解释并确定相关机制。