For the first time, changes in body temperature have been shown to affect lifespan in warm-blooded animals: Scripps Research Institute scientists have found that reducing the core body temperature of mice extends their median lifespan by up to 20 percent.

According to Bruno Conti, an associate professor at Scripps Research who led the study:

"Our study shows it is possible to increase lifespan in mice by modest but prolonged lowering of core body temperature. This longer lifespan was attained independent of calorie restriction."

Researchers have previously discovered that core body temperature and aging were related in cold-blooded animals and that lifespan could be extended in warm-blooded animals by reducing the number of calories they consumed, which also lowered core body temperature.

However, even in mice, the degree of calorie restriction needed to extend lifespan is not easy to achieve.

And so before this current study critical questions about calorie restriction-core body temperature-lifespan relationship remained unanswered:

• Was calorie restriction itself responsible for longer lifespan, with reduced body temperature simply a consequence?
• Or was the reduction of core body temperature a key contributor to the beneficial effects of calorie restriction?
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In the line of these questions that Conti and his colleagues tackled the investigation and decided to try to lower core body temperature directly, without restricting food intake.

The findings:

...the mice with lowered core body temperature had significantly longer median lifespan than those that didn't. While this effect was observed in both males and females, in this study the change was more pronounced in females-median lifespan was extended about 20 percent in females and about 12 percent in males.

Does this mean when we're mostly left cold, we'll live longer? Well, it'll still be a long shot as they're still working on roundworms, fruitflies and mice.

The research findings appeared November 3 in the journal Science.

Find more details from the press release.