Longevity and Cause of Death in Male Wistar Rats Fed Lifelong Diets Based on Virgin Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil, or Fish Oil

Abstract

Extending life by delaying the aging process has been proven to be the most effective way to fight multiple chronic diseases in elderly adults. Evidence suggests that longevity is inversely related to unsaturation of membrane phospholipids. This study investigated how different unsaturated dietary fats affect life span and cause of death in male Wistar rats fed diets based on virgin olive oil (V), sunflower oil (S), or fish oil (F), which were supplemented or not with Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ(10)). Previous results suggest that individual longevity and survival probability at different ages may be modulated by an appropriate dietary fat treatment. Lifelong feeding with V or F diets would reduce death probability compared to feeding with S diet at certain ages, although the effects of V diet would be maintained for most of life. Furthermore, the addition of lower amounts of CoQ(10) reduced mortality associated with S diet, but CoQ(10) had no effect on survival when combined with virgin olive oil or fish oil. Supplementation with low doses of CoQ(10) failed to increase the maximum life span potential of rats fed a V or F diet. No clear evidence showing that monounsaturated fatty acids, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, or CoQ(10) exerted the observed effects by modulating the rate of aging has been found.