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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Davis, California » Western Human Nutrition Research Center » Obesity and Metabolism Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #401320
Research Project: Improving Public Health by Understanding Metabolic and Bio-Behavioral Effects of Following Recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Location: Obesity and Metabolism Research

Title: Chow diet in mouse aging studies: Nothing regular about it

Author
item LEE, JENNIFER - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item PURELLO, CHLOE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item BOOTH, SARAH - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item Bennett, Brian
item WILEY, CHRIS - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item KORSTANJE, RON - The Jackson Laboratory

Submitted to: GeroScience
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2023
Publication Date: 4/20/2023
Citation: Lee, J., Purello, C., Booth, S.L., Bennett, B.J., Wiley, C., Korstanje, R. 2023. Chow diet in mouse aging studies: Nothing regular about it. GeroScience. 45:2079-2084. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00775-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00775-9

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Chow diet is used in the majority of rodent studies and assumed to be standardized for dietary source and nutritional contents but varies widely across commercial formulations. Similarly, current approaches to study aging in rodents provides a single diet formulation across the lifespan and overlooks age-specific nutritional requirements, which may have long-term effects on aging processes. Together, these nutrition-based disparities represent major gaps in geroscience research that makes it difficult to interpret and reproduce studies. This perspective aims to raise awareness on the importance of rodent diet formulation and proposes that geroscientists include detailed descriptions of all experimental diets and feeding protocols. Detailed reporting of diets in aging rodent studies will enhance rigor and reproducibility and lead to more translational outcomes in geroscience research.