Title:Calorie Restriction and Extracellular ATP on Health and Longevity-
A Perspective
Volume: 19
Issue: 1
Author(s): Gopikrishna Agraharam*, Agnishwar Girigoswami and Koyeli Girigoswami
Affiliation:
- Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Chettinad Academy of Research and
Education, Chettinad Health City, Kelambakkam, 603103, Tamilnadu, India
Keywords:
Oxidative stress, calorie restriction, extracellular ATP, healthy ageing, longevity, ROS.
Abstract: Oxidative stress is known to be generated within the organism by endogenous cellular
mechanisms and can also be generated by external factors. Oxidative stress is known to be involved
in various disease pathologies such as cancer, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular diseases, ageing,
etc. The chronic/acute exposure to oxidative stress can easily damage cellular integrity
through damaging the cellular DNA, mitochondrial DNA, proteins and other organelles that
leads to malfunctioning of organs in the process of ageing. Mitochondrial respiration is one of
the causes involved in the production of reactive oxygen species while generating bioenergetics
(ATP) that provide energy to the cell for maintaining the cellular integrity through the electron
transport chain mechanism, and on the other hand, it generates free-radicals that could cause
damage to the cellular organelles and biomolecules. In relation to this context, longevity through
the calorie restriction method could be due to the generation of lower reactive oxygen species
and age-related diseases in vivo but accelerating loss of brain’s grey matter could be due to the
depletion of energy. This is because intracellular ATP is the vital source of energy and extracellular
ATP acts as signalling molecules. Using advanced technology such as nanotechnology for
the internalization of extracellular ATP, and using it as an external source of energy could maintain
cellular integrity and improve the healthy longevity status when combined with the calorie
restriction method. In this perspective article, we have presented a brief overview and a hypothesis
suggesting that the calorie restriction and extracellular ATP treatment could circumvent the
mitochondrial pathway and alleviate oxidative stress, thereby improving health and enhancing
longevity.