23'nd update on fly longevity experiments

Doug Skrecky (oberon@vcn.bc.ca)
Wed, 5 Aug 1998 09:05:40 -0700 (PDT)

This is the 23'rd update on my fly longevity experiments. The high summer temperatures of 30 to 35 C have accelerated fly aging, so that this experiment was concluded in a month, as opposed to a typical duration of around two months during the winter months. In this run I was primarily interested in seeing the results with methyl-sulfonyl-methane. Although this supplement proved to be a bust, both low and high dose marjoram and royal jelly appear to enhance average life span somewhat. Neither of these lenghtened maximum life span, so no antiaging effect could be claimed.
The high temperatures encouraged pathogen growth in one of my breeding bottles, which had to be destroyed. The other breeding bottles also had fewer flies than I had hoped for, so the eleventh run is rather small. I am creating more breeding bottles so as to insure a larger twelveth run. Many of the supplements I have tested in the past were spices. This had a disadvantage, in that the amounts of these materials fed the flies were much larger than the amounts (relatively speaking) that humans typically consume. I am now mostly switching over to foods that humans typically consume much larger quantities of. Thus if a food exerts an antiaging effect in flies, it would be at least possible for humans to consume similar quantities.
The eleventh run focuses exclusively on fruit juices. The most interesting juice IMHO is cranberry juice, which is known to exert a protective effect on urinary infections. If this exerts a protective effect against pathogens for flies it might increase their average life expectancy.
Other juices have other interesting properties. Orange juice exerts a significant anticancer effect in rodents. Grapefruit juice increases the absorption of many drugs, but also increases the risk of kidney stones. Pineapple juice is very effective in inhibiting the browning of apple rings. (J Food Sci 58(2): 399-404 1993) Whether any of these juices can increase fly life span is open to conjecture. There exists only one way to answer this question - do an experiment!

Tenth Run Number Percentage Survival on Day Supplement of flies 4 8 12 16 20 23 30 36


Cntl 1           28    82% 71% 39% 29% 11% 11%  0%  -
Cntl 2           35    83  69  40  17  11   9   3   0
Allspice         47    81  72  45  32  15   9   0   -
Allspice 4X      19    74  37  37  21   5   5   0   -
Ephedrine        19    74  63  53  11   5   0   -   -
Ephedrine 4X      9    56  22  22  22  11  11   0   -
Henna            14    64  29  21   0   -   -   -   -
Henna 4X         14    79  29  21  14   0   -   -   -
Licorice Root    17    65  53  35   6   0   -   -   -
Licorice Root 4X 14    43  29  21   7   7   7   0   -
Mahlab           15    93  87  73  47  27  13   0   -
Mahlab 4X        13    92  62  46  23   8   8   0   -
Mango            15   100  73  67  27   0   -   -   -
Mango 4X         13    85  85  77  38  23  15   0   -
Marjoram         23    91  87  74  39  17   9   0   -
Marjoram 4X      11    82  82  64  64  36  36   0   -
MSM*             13    92  69  46  31   8   8   0   -
MSM 4X           10    90  80  60  10   0   -   -   -
MSM 16X          16    94  75  31  19   6   6   0   -
Royal Jelly      19    95  89  63  37  16  16   5   0
Royal Jelly 4X 9 100 100 78 44 33 33 0 -

*Methyl-sulfonyl-methane

Run 11
Cntl 1
Cntl 2
Apple: Sun-Rype Apple Juice
Blackcurrent: Barker's Blackcurrent Juice Cranberry: President's Choice Cranberry Cocktail Grape: McCain's Grape Punch
Grapefruit, red: Sun-Rype Rio Red Grapefruit Cocktail Grapefruit, white: Sun-Rype Grapefruit Juice Orange: Sun-Rype Orange Juice
Pineapple: Dole Pineapple Juice
Tomato: Heinz Tomato Juice diluted with 50% water