X-Message-Number: 7929
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 05:48:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: 4'th update on fly longevity experiments 

    This is the fourth update on my fly experiments. I have started the
 second run of my experiments now, testing an additional 23 supplements
 plus a control group. The two front runners of the first run are still
 NADH and forskolin. The results are as follows:

 First Run             Mortality
 Supplement  DAY 21  DAY 31  DAY 43  DAY 56
 alpha lipoic  55%     78%     89%    100%
 Biotin        62      88     100      -
 CLA           57     100      -       -
 Forskolin     10      20      20      50
 Glutamine      0      83      83      83
 Lycopene       0       0      40      80
 NADH          14      14      14      43
 Pregnenolone   0      25      63      88
 Pyroglutaminc 38      50      75      88
 RNA           43     100      -       -
 Xanthophyll   38      25      75      88

    Although most of the supplements in this first run were probably fed
 at excessive and toxic levels, with one exception I am not inclined to
 further investigate these since I consider it unlikely that even at an
 optimal dosage that any of these could dramatically extend life span,
 based on the poor results thus far. Rather than waste further time
 investigating a few supplements at different dosages I am instead pushing
 on and testing other things. The purpose of these screening experiments
 is not to search for things that increase life span by 20%, since this
 has already been done, but instead to gamble for a big breakthrough at
 least doubling the life span. Then after double checking and further
 validating such a life span doubling supplement with flies, I would seek
 to see if this had similar effects in other animal species, including
 mammals.
     One supplement that seems to be of some interest from the first run
 is NADH. Assuming that the flies were on average 10 days old at the start
 of the experiment, then NADH fed flies have a 43% mortality at about 66
 days of age. In one study the mortality at 66 days of age for the Oregon
 R strain of drosophilia melanogaster flies maintained at 25 C was 80%.
 (Experimental Gerontology 26: 487-494 1991). To be frank these results
 are not very interesting and might be due to chance. However due to the
 known instability of NADH in solution it is extremely unlikely that any
 NADH still exists in the fly food. It is possible that dramatically
 better results might be obtained with a more stable NADH precursor. Two
 such precursors are niacin and nicotinamide. Since niacin is known to
 exert toxic effects at high dosages, I chose to test the less toxic
 nicotinamide. I also spotted an interesting synergism between
 nicotinamide and coenzyme Q10 in protecting against dopamine depletion
 resulting from MPTP neurotoxicity. Nicotinamide and coenzyme Q10 both
 offered about 50% protection to a medium dose of MPTP, while the
 combination nicotinamide/coenzyme Q10 offered 100% protection.
 (Experimental Neurology 132: 279-283 1995) The second run thus is testing
 nicotinamide, coenzyme Q10 and their combination on fly longevity.
     The dosages used in the second run are lower than in the first to
 avoid possible toxic effects. In the research done by others increases in
 fly life span have been found at a low dosage, but decreases were
 sometimes noted for high dosages. An example is pantothenic acid. At 50
 mg/100 ml medium it increases fly life span by 23%, while at 200 mg/100
 ml it decreases it by 15%. (Experimental Gerontology 6: 133-151 1971) Now
 100 ml of medium is about 100 calories. So a human eating the 2000
 calories/day of the medium would be getting 1 gm/day at the lower dose
 and 4 grams at the higher dose. Now it just so happens that C57 mice fed
 what amounts to the lower concentration of pantothenic acid lived 18%
 longer than control mice. (Proc Soc. Exp. Biol. & Med. 99(3): 632-633
 1958) Yet when rodents were fed an (apparently higher) dosage of
 panthothenic acid in an as yet unpublished study the life span was
 reduced. Not all supplements show such toxcity at high dosages, but this
 is an unnecessary risk I do not wish to take with my second run. Since
 active ingrediants are diluted in the spices I am testing these at a
 dosage of 500 mg/100 ml of 4-24 medium. This works out to about 10
 grams/day of the spices for a human. The more concentrated supplements I
 am testing at lower dosages than this. The second run is as follows:

 Control                -
 Nicotinamide          83 mg/100 ml
 Co Q10                80
 Nicotinamide+Co Q10   83+80
 Acetylcarnitine(ALC)  83
 ALC+Co Q10            83+80
 Basil                500
 Bromelain             83
 Caraway              500
 Cloves               500
 Cumin                500
 Chlorophyll            ?
 Curcumin              50
 Dextromethorphan      20
 Fenugreek            500
 Ginger               500
 Green tea            666
 Leucoanthocyanins     67
 mace                 500
 Nutmeg               500
 Oregano              500
 Rosemary             500
 Sage                 500
 Thyme                500

     I am also adding a little more taurine larvicide in all of the
 bottles used in the second run (1000 mg/100 ml), since a few larva
 survived in the CLA and the RNA bottles in the first run.
     Note that the concentration of chlorophyll is unknown since the Swiss
 brand chlorophyll liquid I used in place of medium water did not specify
 this.
    Although the life extension movement has largely ignored spices, this
 itself yields a possibility that good results might be obtained with one
 or more of them. Also if certain Germain Health bureaucrats succeed in
 banning many supplements world-wide through their Codex/Gestapo
 organization spices are going to be one of the things that will still be
 left available for use as life extension supplements. In my native Canada
 the local bureaucrats at the Health Protection Branch are acting in
 concert with the Codex and have banned quite a few items, including DHEA.
 Canadians will now be liable to arrest if they purchase DHEA, since this
 is now classified as a controlled drug. However I do not wish to
 overstate the threat to the health and longevity that bureaucrats pose.
 They are obsolete dinosaurs, still dangerous perhaps to the unwary or
 unwise, but little threat to the small nimble life extending mammals that
 will one day inherit the earth from them. For instance if Canadians wish
 to boost their DHEA levels back to youthful levels, they can purchase the
 DHEA precursor pregnenolone, which is classified as a prescription drug.
 The primary limitation for life extensionists is not government saurians
 hooting and stomping, but instead it is the simple lack of life span data
 on supplements. We need to know to which ones work (and don't work) and
 at what dosage as well as the effect of combining various supplements. I
 intend to help generate this data.
    As I have already stated I intend to concentrate on supplements that
 have never been tested before for life span effects on any animal
 species. Of the items in the second run only green tea and coenzyme Q10
 have, to my knowledge been previously tested. A very small amount of
 green tea substituted for water in the medium increased life span in
 flies by 8.3%. (Mechanisms of Ageing and Development 67: 227-237 1993) I
 was wondering what would happen if a larger amount was used. Also large
 doses of the green tea polyphenol epigallocathechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG)
 fed to stroke-prone hypertensive rats (35 grams for a 70 kg human
 equivalent) increased survival from 40% to 80% after a year, despite not
 affecting blood pressure. (Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and
 Physiology Sup. 1: S302-S303 1995)

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