Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Language

English

Publication Date

10-15-2024

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2408682121

PMID

39374394

PMCID

PMC11494338

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

10-7-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Abstract

The disposable soma theory (DST) posits that organisms age and die because of a direct trade-off in resource allocation between reproduction and somatic maintenance. DST predicts that investments in reproduction accentuate somatic damage which increase senescence and shortens lifespan. Here, we directly tested DST predictions in breeding and nonbreeding female C57BL/6J mice. We measured reproductive outputs, body composition, daily energy expenditure, and oxidative stress at peak lactation and over lifetime. We found that reproduction had an immediate and negative effect on survival due to problems encountered during parturition for some females. However, there was no statistically significant residual effect on survival once breeding had ceased, indicating no trade-off with somatic maintenance. Instead, higher mortality appeared to be a direct consequence of reproduction without long-term physiological consequences. Reproduction did not elevate oxidative stress. Our findings do not provide support for the predictions of the DST.

Keywords

Animals, Female, Reproduction, Mice, Oxidative Stress, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Energy Metabolism, Body Composition, Longevity, Lactation, Mortality, aging, lifespan, reproduction

Published Open-Access

yes

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