21'st update on fly longevity experiment

Doug Skrecky (oberon@vcn.bc.ca)
Tue, 19 May 1998 20:58:06 -0700 (PDT)

This is the 21'st update on my fly longevity experiments. Since flies
used in run #8 had been pre-aged in holding bottles containing taurine
larvicide for 29 days prior to use, the remaining life spans are shorter
than those from the previous run.
The results were very disappointing with acetyl-carnosine, and I have
no explanation for why the flies given this died so quickly. However the
poor result with almond powder was anticipated. This was the first time I
have tested something that I was fairly confident would reduce life span.
Unlike mammals, the dietary "essential" fatty acid requirement for flies
is zero, and all tests with various added fats have yielded reduced life
spans. However monosaturated fats had never been tested before, so I
decided to try this with the almond powder.
It looks like aged garlic powder, and the lower dosage of chili have a
mild pro-longevity effect. Both the lower doses of cardamon, and
corriander might also be slightly beneficial before tissue levels
accumulate to a toxic level. I will have to check out extra low
concentrations of these some time.
For the ninth run I am testing a very high dosage (8X) of hawthorn,
since the Hawthorn 4X did so well in the seventh run. Otherwise I am
continuing to test the spice cabinet in this latest run. Flies were
pre-aged for only 17 days, since about 75% of them had died by this time.
This shorter holding period may be due to the current higher temperatures
accelerating age associated mortality in drosophilia. These insects now
show great reluctance in attempting flight, which is typical of aged
flies.

Eighth Run #NUMBER PERCENTAGE SURVIVAL ON DAY
Supplement OF FLIES 3 8 11 14 19 22 26 29 34 39
___________________________________________________________
cntl 1 11 64 36 27 18 9 9 9 9 0 -
cntl 2 9 67 44 33 33 22 22 11 0 - -
acetyl-carnosine 7 14 14 0 - - - - - - -
acetyl-carnosine 4X 8 75 13 13 0 - - - - - -
aged garlic 14 86 50 43 43 21 7 7 7 7 0
aged garlic 4X 10 90 50 50 40 30 10 10 0 - -
almond 7 43 14 0 - - - - - - -
cardamon 9 78 56 44 44 44 33 22 22 0 -
cardamon 4X 10 80 40 20 10 0 - - - - -
chili 9 67 56 33 44 22 11 11 11 11 0
chili 4X 7 86 57 43 29 29 14 0 - - -
coriander 9 100 78 67 33 33 22 11 0 - -
coriander 4X 6 67 50 50 17 0 - - - - -
echinacea 9 78 11 11 0 - - - - - -
echinacea 4X 13 85 31 31 23 15 0 - - - -
tomato 10 50 10 10 10 10 10 0 - - -
tomato 4X 14 93 29 21 21 7 0 - - - -
water reduced 9 67 33 33 33 33 0 - - - -

NINETH Run
Cntl 1
Cntl 2
Horseradish: 1/16 tsp
Horseradish 4X: 1/4 tsp
Hawthorn 4X: 500 mg
Hawthorn 8X: 1000 mg
Myrrh: 1/16 tsp
Myrrh 4X: 1/4 tsp
Orange peel: 1/16 tsp
Orange peel 4X: 1/4 tsp
Orris root: 1/16 tsp
Orris root 4X: 1/4 tsp
Pepper (white): 1/16 tsp
Pepper (white) 4X: 1/4 tsp
Peppermint leaves: 1/16 tsp
Peppermint leaves 4X: 1/4 tsp
Saffron: 1/16 tsp
Saffron 4X: 1/4 tsp
Sasparilla: 1/16 tsp
Sasparilla 4X: 1/4 tsp
Savory: 1/16 tsp
Savory 4X: 1/4 tsp
Senna: 1/16 tsp
Senna 4X: 1/4 tsp