Comprehensive Library Of Resveratrol News

Given a background where efforts to extend lifespan in the laboratory using resveratrol have been mixed, with life extension being demonstrated in yeast cells, fruit flies, roundworms and high-fat fed mice but not normal-calorie fed mice, the life-prolonging effects of resveratrol were recently demonstrated among honey bees.  The bees were fed a lower and 4X higher dose of resveratrol and lived 38% and 33% longer respectively.  This effect was abolished when the bees were subjected to an environment of pure oxygen.  The honey bees the ingested the highest does of resveratrol did not eat as much food under normal feeding conditions.  The full-text report can be accessed here. – Copyright 2012 ResveratrolNews.com

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AGING, July 2012, Vol.4, No 7

The lifespan extension effects of resveratrol are conserved in the honey bee and may be driven by a mechanism related to caloric restriction

Brenda Rascón¹, Basil P. Hubbard², David A. Sinclair², and Gro V. Amdam¹, ³

1 Department of Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science (IKBM), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), Ås N‐1432, Norway
2 Departments of Pathology and Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
3School of Life Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287‐4501, USA

Abstract:

Our interest in healthy aging and in evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of lifespan extension prompted us to investigate whether features of age‐related decline in the honey bee could be attenuated with resveratrol. Resveratrol is regarded as a caloric restriction mimetic known to extend lifespan in some but not all model species. The current, prevailing view is that resveratrol works largely by activating signaling pathways. It has also been suggested that resveratrol may act as an antioxidant and confer protection against nervous system impairment and oxidative stress. To test whether honey bee lifespan, learning performance, and food perception could be altered by resveratrol, we supplemented the diets of honey bees and measured lifespan, olfactory learning, and gustatory responsiveness to sucrose. Furthermore, to test the effects of resveratrol under metabolic challenge, we used hyperoxic environments to generate oxidative stress. Under normal oxygen conditions, two resveratrol treatments—30 and 130 μM—lengthened average lifespan in wild‐type honey bees by 38% and 33%, respectively. Both resveratrol treatments also lengthened maximum and median lifespan. In contrast, hyperoxic stress abolished the resveratrol life‐extension response. Furthermore, resveratrol did not affect learning performance, but did alter gustation. Honey bees that were not fed resveratrol exhibited greater responsiveness to sugar, while those supplemented with resveratrol were less responsive to sugar. We also discovered that individuals fed a high dose of resveratrol—compared to controls—ingested fewer quantities of food under ad libitum feeding conditions.