Aging Cell doi: 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2008.00409.x (2008)

Mice that spend much of their adult lives on a restricted diet lengthen their fertile lifespan, a new study suggests.

Previous studies have shown that caloric restriction from birth can extend fertility, but can also adversely affect development. A team led by Jonathan Tilly at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston cut animals' calorie intakes by 40% between 4 and 15.5 months of age — roughly equivalent to a human's mid-20s to mid-40s.

When returned to a normal diet, these mice continued to have young for several months beyond the time that they would normally stop reproducing. Moreover, many more of the offspring survived than did those born to control mice during the normal fertile period.

The work supports the idea that drugs mimicking caloric restriction might delay human menopause.