Green Tea Polyphenols Extend the Lifespan of MaleDrosophila melanogasterWhile Impairing Reproductive Fitness

Abstract

Green tea is a popular beverage believed to have many health benefits, including a reduction in the risks of heart disease and cancer. Rich in polyphenolic compounds known as catechins, green tea and its components have been shown to increase the lifespan of various animal models, including Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we investigated the genderspecific effects of green tea on the lifespan of fruit flies and observed that green tea extended the lifespan of male flies only. This effect was found to be independent of typical aging interventions, such as dietary restriction, modulation of oxidative energy metabolism, and improved tolerance to environmental stresses. The one exception was that green tea did protect male flies against iron toxicity. Since there is an inverse correlation between lifespan and reproduction, the impact of green tea on male reproductive fitness was also investigated. We found that green tea negatively impacted male fertility as shown by a reduced number of offspring produced and increased mating latency. We further identified that the lifespan extension properties of green tea was only observed in the presence of females which alludes to a reproductive (or mating) dependent mechanism. Our findings suggest that green tea extends the lifespan of male flies by inhibiting reproductive potential, possibly by limiting iron uptake. To our knowledge, our study is the first to report the negative impact of green tea on Drosophila male reproduction. Our results also support previous studies that suggest that green tea might have a negative effect on reproductive fitness in humans.

The impact of green tea polyphenols on development and reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Green tea’s inability to protect against superoxide free radicals could be due to a higher dose of GTP resulting in green tea’s pro-oxidant toxic effect (Forester & Lambert, 2011). Some of our results may appear to disagree with our previous work where we did not observe protective effects against desiccation, and GTP did not increase water content (Lopez et al, 2014). The reason for this discrepancy is likely due to feeding GTP to adult flies in our previous work versus exposing embryos to GTP in this work.…”

“…While such toxicities have been cited in a number of reports, they are often over-looked, and their mechanisms are not fully understood. In line with some of these observations, we have previously reported that while green tea polyphenols (GTP) increased the lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster , it resulted in a reduction in male fertility (Lopez et al, 2014). …”

“…Previously, we reported that green tea polyphenols (GTP) fed to adult Drosophila melanogaster increased male mean lifespan by up to 19% but resulted in a decrease in male fertility at doses ≥10 mg/mL (Lopez et al, 2014). This adverse effect on male fertility was surprising and warranted further investigation on the extent of toxicity caused by green tea.…”

Extension of Drosophila lifespan by cinnamon through a sex-specific dependence on the insulin receptor substrate chico

“…Any of which could possibly confer a lifespan extension. We have already found such a relationship in green tea, where lifespan extension is associated with decreased fertility in males (Lopez et al 2014). We are currently examining the effect of cinnamon and other botanicals on these other aspects of reproduction.…”

Oxidant effects and toxicity ofCroton campestrisinDrosophila melanogaster

“…Evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that phytochemicals such as flavonoids, proanthocyanidins and anthocyanins (Long et al 2009;Dong et al 2012;Lopez et al 2014) can improve lifespan and delay the aging process. Besides the beneficial effects of plant preparations traditionally used by human population, double-sided properties of plant extracts have been verified.…”