X-Message-Number: 7403
Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1997 00:59:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: Life Extension Supplement Test 

    There are currently numerous purported "life extending" supplements
 available, which have never been tested for their effect on longevity in
 any animal species. One or more of these may indeed have dramatic
 beneficial effects on human longevity. The problem is to determine which
 ones. 
    To this end I have personally initiated a series of longevity
 experiments with drosophilia melanogaster fruit flies. If there exists
 aging processes that are common to both flies and humans then I expect a
 series of quick experiments testing various supplements on fly life span
 to give some indication of their usefulness in extending human
 longevity. 
    Substances now being tested include alpha lipoic acid, biotin,
 conjugated linoleic acid, forskolin, glutamine, lycopene, NADH,
 pregnenolone, pyroglutamic acid, RNA and xanthophylls. Adult flies are
 being used so I expect significant mortality during the next month. If
 any substance fails to reduce mortality significantly it will be deleted
 from further consideration and replaced by another supplement. This is a
 "fast and dirty" screening experiment so no attempt is being made to test
 different concentrations of these substances, nor are large numbers of
 flies being used. 
    I hope to test most of more interesting purported longevity extending
 supplements during 1997. I will be giving periodic updates on the status
 of my experiments. 
    Note: The drosophilia were generously donated by the University of
 British Columbia fly lab in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Unfortunately the ages
 of the flies are not known. Fly food used is formula 4-24 instant
 drosophilia medium from Carolina Biological Supply Company, 2700 York
 Road, Burlington, NC, USA 27215-3398. Containers used to house the flies
 are sterilized glass milk bottles. Concentration of the supplements used
 and their source are as follows: (Concentration is percentage of dry
 formula 4-24 medium weight.) 0.25% alpha lipoic acid (Prolongevity),
 0.026% biotin (1% powder from Prolongevity), 0.3% conjugated linoleic
 acid (Prolongevity), 0.053% forskolin (Prolongevity), 0.3% glutamine
 (Natural Factors), 0.05% lycopene (Vitamin Research Products), 0.05% NADH
 (Schweitzer Pharma) plus 0.015 lycopene acidentally added to the NADH
 enriched medium, 0.25% pregnenolone (Prolongevity), 0.3% pyroglutamic
 acid (Vitamin Research Products), 0.3% RNA (Twinlab) and 0.045%
 Xanthophyll (Vitamin Research Products). The balance used to measure
 supplements and fly food was accurate only to 0.5 gram so the percentages
 stated may be rather inaccurate. A more accurate balance is on my list of
 things to buy in the future. 

 ***************************HELP REQUESTED*************************
   I am looking for more "interesting" supplements to test. If anyone
 wishes to have a given supplement included in this program. Email me at
  with the rationale, including references to the
 scientific literature if possible. I will evaluate these and may schedule
 them for a test if they look promising. As examples I will here give the
 reasons for inclusion of biotin and RNA. 
   Biotin: Chromium picolinate is an insulin sensitizer which has
 significantly extended the maximum life span of Long Evans rats to 48
 months from the normal 38 months. (reference: Medical Hypotheses 43: 
 253-265 1994) Biotin is also an insulin sensitizer. (reference: Life
 Sciences 42(13): 1323-1330 1988)
   RNA: Injections of DNA, RNA and chloroform increased maximum rat life
 span to an unbelievable 75 months! (Journal of the American Geriatrics
 Society 21(10): 450-451 October 1973) Is RNA the active ingrediant? 

 P.S. I would like to include carnosine in my experiments, but have not
 been able to obtain this supplement. If anyone knows of a source, please
 let me know. 


Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=7403