Early Life Protein Restriction can Extend Fly Lifespan by Reducing Levels of Late Life Metabolic Waste

This study shows that dietary yeast restriction during Drosophila development can induce long-term changes in adult triglyceride storage, xenobiotic resistance, and lifespan. It can also extend lifespan even when adults are switched to a high yeast diet. In contrast, longevity obtained via adult-onset dietary restriction (DR) is largely reversible upon switching to a non-restricted diet. Developmental-diet induced extensions of median lifespan can be as large or larger than those observed with adult DR but this depends strongly upon the adult environment. We found that yeast restricted males reproducibly lived longer than controls, with median lifespan increases ranging from 20% up to a striking 145%, varying with adult diet. Hence, it is the combination of developmental and adult environments that determines survival outcomes, not one or the other. We explored the possibility that flies themselves might condition the environment with endogenously produced substances detrimental to survival (hereafter called autotoxins). A differential production and/or response to these autotoxins could then contribute to lifespan regulation by developmental diet. A major finding of this study is that male and female flies condition their environment with alkene autotoxins that decrease the survival of both adult sexes. Developmental yeast restriction influences adult oenocytes to synthesise a hydrocarbon blend that contains a lower proportion of alkene autotoxins. In turn, this prom...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs