Evaluation of the effect of age on hematopoiesis in the C57BL/6 mouse

The effect of age on hematopoiesis was studied in young (six-month) and old (24-month) C57BL/6 mice. In addition, studies were performed on very old (42-month) mice, housed either singly or in groups of five animals per cage. Although a reduction in hematocrit was found in the older mice, red cell mass was normal in both old and very old single-caged mice. A detailed evaluation of erythropoiesis that included plasma- and erythron-iron turnover (PIT and EIT), red cell survival, and quantitation of the marrow erythroid progenitor and differentiated cells demonstrated no age-related change in single-caged animals. Similarly, quantitation of marrow myeloid precursors was identical in these groups. These results indicate that no age-related change in basal hematopoiesis can be demonstrated even in animals approaching maximal life expectancy. When very old mice were routinely housed in groups of five per cage, however, a decrease in hematocrit was found which was accompanied by significant alterations in hematopoiesis, including reductions in total differentiated erythroid cells, erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E), erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-E), and colony-forming-unit culture (CFU-C) levels. It is likely that in very old animals, group housing constitutes a sufficient stress to compromise hematopoiesis. These findings indicate that basal hematopoiesis is unaltered by aging, although the bone marrow's reserve capacity is markedly compromised.