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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