Human in vivo longevity is reflected in vitro by differential metabolism as measured by ¹H-NMR profiling of cell culture supernatants

The offspring of nonagenarian siblings suffer less from age related conditions and have a lower risk of mortality compared to their partners. Fibroblast strains derived from such offspring in middle age show different in vitro responses to stress, more stress-induced apoptosis and less senescence when compared to strains of their partners. Aiming to find differences in cellular metabolism in vitro between these fibroblast strains, cell culture supernatants collected at 24 hours and five days were analysed using ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolic footprinting. Between 24 hours and five days of incubation, supernatants of all fibroblast strains showed decreased levels of glucose, pyruvate, alanine-glutamine (ala-gln), valine, leucine, isoleucine, serine and lysine and increased levels of glutamine, alanine, lactate and pyroglutamic acid. Strains from offspring and their partners were compared using a partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) model based on the data of the five-day time point. The ala-gln and glucose consumption were higher for fibroblast strains derived from offspring when compared to strains of their partners. Also, production of glutamine, alanine, lactate and pyroglutamic acid was found to be higher for fibroblast strains derived from offspring. In conclusion, differences in NMR-based metabolic profiles of human cells in vitro reflect the propensity for human longevity of the subjects from whom these were derived.