It was recently reported that socio-economic factors related differences in human life expectancy are associated with differences in the variance of age at death. To determine whether anti-aging interventions also alter the variance of longevity, we have analyzed data from mice subjected to treatment with drugs that affect aging or to calorie restriction and from long-lived mutant mice. The relationship of changes in longevity and in longevity variance was found to depend on sex and treatment and apparently also on strain. Increased longevity of male mice treated with effective anti-aging drugs was accompanied by reduced variance of age at death and apparent reduction of early life mortality. Life extension induced by growth-hormone related mutations and calorie restriction tended to increase longevity variance in females only. We conclude that impact of anti-aging interventions on the variance of age at death and distribution of individual lifespans in laboratory mice is treatment-dependent and sexually dimorphic.
Keywords: 17 alpha estradiol; acarbose; calorie restriction; growth hormone; longevity; mice; rapamycin; variance.