Research

Hormonal

Long-term caloric restriction delays immune senescence in aged nonhuman primates by preserving naive T cell populations, maintaining T cell receptor repertoire diversity, and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine production by memory T cells.

For long-term healthspan, consistent caloric restriction over many years (decades) appears to preserve immune function in primates, specifically by keeping naive T cells abundant and reducing chronic inflammation. This suggests that long-term dietary discipline, rather than short-term fixes, is key to maintaining immune resilience in aging.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Here we show that long-term CR delays the adverse effects of aging on nonhuman primate T cells. CR effected a marked improvement in the maintenance and/or production of naive T cells and the consequent preservation of T cell receptor repertoire diversity. Furthermore, CR also improved T cell function and reduced production of inflammatory cytokines by memory T cells.
Ilhem Messaoudi et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2006

Why this rating

Longitudinal study in aged nonhuman primates (rhesus macaques) with long-term intervention (10-17 years), though sample sizes for females were reduced by attrition.

Source

Delay of T cell senescence by caloric restriction in aged long-lived nonhuman primates

Ilhem Messaoudi et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2006

DOI 10.1073/pnas.0606661103

cohort · n=41Cited 222×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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