X-Message-Number: 8238
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 08:44:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: 9'th update on fly longevity experiments
This is the ninth update on my fly experiments. Just the control,
nicotinamide and chlorophyll bottles have one fly each left alive in
them. The sage bottle has two left and all the other bottles have none.
The fact that the control bottle now has one of the highest survival
rates is an event which needs an explanation! I think I may have found
one. Unlike mammals, flies experience a greatly accelerated mortality
when they are fed fats. (Exp. Geront. 14:95-100 1979) Since most spices
contain some fat, it can be expected that many of them will decrease fly
longevity.
Second Run Survival
Supplement DAY 11 DAY 21 DAY 31 DAY 42 DAY 53
Control 63% 63% 38% 25% 12%
Nicotinamide 86 86 86 43 14
Coenzyme Q10 100 100 57 0 0
Nicotinamide/CoQ10 86 57 29 0 0
Acetylcarnitine 86 63 38 12 0
ALC/COQ10 100 86 43 14 0
Basil 80 80 80 40 0
Bromelain 78 67 56 11 0
Caraway 67 33 17 17 0
Chlorophyll 100 100 67 14 14
Cloves 83 86 57 0 0
Cumin 100 57 71 43 0
Curcumin 71 57 29 14 0
Dextromethorphan 83 83 67 33 0
Fenugreek 80 80 40 20 0
Ginger 67 17 0 0 0
Green Tea 100 83 67 33 0
Leucoanthocyanins 86 86 57 14 0
Mace 71 57 29 0 0
Nutmeg 71 57 57 29 0
Oregano 88 50 25 0 0
Rosemary 90 90 64 10 0
Sage 100 75 75 62 25
Thyme 100 88 25 12 0
I have started the third run, which is as follows:
Supplement concentration (mg/100 ml)
Control
Activated charcoal 87
Amchoor 500
Angelica 500
Anise 500
Bay 500
Beet 500
Betaine HCL 165
Carrot 500
Celery seed 500
Citrus bioflavonoids 215
Comfrey 500
Dill seed 500
Green pea 500
Hydroxycitric acid 83
Kelp 500
Malt 500
Melatonin 1.3
Melatonin 2X 2.6
Melatonin 4X 5.2
Nicotinamide 500
Paprika 500
Para-aminobenzoic acid 165
Purple yam 500
Rosehip 500
Sage 500
Sage 2X 1000
Sage 4X 2000
Silica 37
Spinach 500
Tumerin ?
Since sage was the "first place finisher" in the second run, I am
taking a more detailed look at this spice in the third run. Nicotinamide
also looked promising, but the dosage may have been too low in the second
run for a significant benefit to be obtained. I will see if a high dosage
of nicotinamide is more helpful in the third run.
Low doses of melatonin have modestly extended maximum life span in
rodents. However in the May 1997 issue of Life Extension magasine it was
reported that Dr. Roman Rozencwaig doubled the life span of rotifiers by
giving them melatonin. Could this be because he used a lot of melatonin?
Could high dose melatonin double rodent life span? I will examine the
dose/reponse effect of melatonin on flies.
The most powerful DNA protecting antioxident in existence is called
tumerin, which forms 0.1% of the dry weight of the spice tumeric.
(Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics 292(2): 617-623 1992) Since
tumerin is heat stable and water soluable I boiled some tumeric in water,
let it settle and then poured off the water. This water extract should
hold most of the tumerin, but relatively little of the curcumin, which
gives tumeric its yellow colour. Unfortunately a negative result with
tumerin will not mean that accumulating DNA damage has little effect on
fly longevity, since tumerin is a high molecular weight antioxident (5000
daltons) and might not be absorbed by the flies. Still it is worth a
try.
Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8238