Nutritional regimens with periodically recurring phases of dietary restriction extend lifespan in Drosophila

Abstract

Nutritional interventions such as caloric and dietary restriction increase lifespan in various animal models. To identify alternative and less demanding nutritional interventions that extend lifespan, we subjected fruit flies ( Drosophila melanogaster) to weekly nutritional regimens that involved alternating a conventional diet with dietary restriction. Short periods of dietary restriction (up to 2 d) followed by longer periods of a conventional diet yielded minimal increases in lifespan. We found that 3 or more days of contiguous dietary restriction (DR) was necessary to yield a lifespan extension similar to that observed with persistent DR. Female flies were more responsive to these interventions than males. Physiologic changes known to be associated with prolonged DR, such as reduced metabolic rates, showed the same time course as lifespan extension. Moreover, concurrent transcriptional changes indicative of reduced insulin signaling were identified with DR. These physiologic and transcriptional changes were sustained, as they were detectable several days after switching to conventional diets. Taken together, diets with longer periods of DR extended lifespan concurrently with physiologic and transcriptional changes that may underlie this increase in lifespan.-Romey-Glüsing, R., Li, Y., Hoffmann, J., von Frieling, J., Knop, M., Pfefferkorn, R., Bruchhaus, I., Fink, C., Roeder, T. Nutritional regimens with periodically recurring phases of dietary restriction extend lifespan in Drosophila.

Sirtuins as Mediator of the Anti-Ageing Effects of Calorie Restriction in Skeletal and Cardiac Muscle

“…They observed that calorie-resticted mice lived longer compared to control mice on a regular diet. These early results have been confirmed later by many other studies in different species, from unicellular yeast to non-human primates [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

“…However, also the amount of ingested food has been attracting the interest of the scientific community as a potential modifier of the balance between health and disease in many different living species. In particular, calorie restriction (CR) has been demonstrated to be an emerging nutritional intervention that stimulates the anti-ageing mechanisms in the body [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Therefore, the diet of the people living on the Japanese island of Okinawa has been extensively analyzed because these islanders are well-known for their longevity and increased health span, resulting in the greatest frequency of centenarians in the world [ 23 ].…”

Low-protein diet applied as part of combination therapy or stand-alone normalizes lifespan and tumor proliferation in a model of intestinal cancer

“…The effects of DR and CR are well-established in Drosophila , especially the lifespan- and healthspan-prolonging effects [ 47 ]. Although the lifespan-extending effects of protein restriction are not fully understood, effects on insulin signaling [ 48 ] and TOR signaling [ 47 ] might not only explain these effects, but also the beneficial effects on tumor growth. Our experiments confirmed that a protein-restricted diet prolongs lifespan.…”

A Drosophila model of cigarette smoke induced COPD identifies Nrf2 signaling as an expedient target for intervention

“…To quantify the basic metabolic rate of smoked flies the amount of consumed CO 2 was measured as readout for O 2 usage. Therefore 5–7 d old mated female w 1118 flies were smoked for 10 d. The experimental procedure was performed as previously described [ 25 , 64 ]. Groups of 3 flies were analyzed for 2h periods.…”