A mathematical model that accounts for the effects of caloric restriction on body weight and longevity
Leeuwen, I.M.M. van, Kelpin, F. D. L. and Kooijman, S. A. L. M. 2002.
A mathematical model that accounts for the effects of caloric restriction on body weight and longevity. Biogerontology, 3: 373-381
Abstract
Several aspects of energy dynamics, such as energy expenditure and caloric
intake, are known to affect the aging process. In this paper we therefore
model the aging process within a mathematical framework describing the
energy dynamics of an organism. The resulting model comprises food intake,
body growth and survival. The equation for the mortality rate accounts for
food consumption and is suited to describe caloric restriction data. For
non-growing animals, the expression for the mortality rate reduces to the
well-known Gompertz equation. We successfully applied our model to growth
and survival data on mice exposed to different food levels.