Effects of Long-Term Caloric Restriction on Early Steps of the Insulin-Signaling System in Mouse Skeletal Muscle

In this study, we analyzed the effects of long-term (14 months) caloric restriction (CR) on the first steps of the insulin signaling system in skeletal muscle of normal mice. CR induced a significant decrease in serum insulin and glucose levels, indicating an enhancement of insulin sensitivity. CR reduced the in vivo insulin-induced phosphorylation of the insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 by 27%, but this difference was not significant (p .298). CR reduced insulin receptor (IR) abundance by 34 % from the ad libitum values, but this difference did not reach significance (p .246). The abundance of the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K and glucose transporter 4 was unaltered after CR. However, IRS-1 abundance was significantly increased by 42 % in muscle of mice exposed to CR. These findings indicate that the CR-induced improvement of insulin action in mice is not related to changes in glucose transporter 4, the p85 regulatory subunit of PI3K, or IR abundance in skeletal muscle but might be related to an increase in IRS-1 abundance in this tissue. CALORIC restriction (CR) is the only known environ-mental intervention that retards aging and extends life span in a wide variety of both mammalian and non-mammalian species (1–5). A fundamental alteration ob-served in rats after CR is the augmented insulin-stimulate