Resveratrol Prolongs Lifespan and Retards the Onset of Age-Related Markers in a Short-Lived Vertebrate

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Resveratrol Prolongs Lifespan and Retards the Onset of

Age-Related Markers in a Short-Lived Vertebrate

Dario R. Valenzano1, Eva Terzibasi2, Tyrone Genade2,

Antonino Cattaneo3, 4, Luciano Domenici2, 5 and

Alessandro Cellerino1, 2, ,

1Scuola Normale Superiore, 56100 Pisa, Italy

2Istituto di Neuroscienze del CNR, 56100 Pisa, Italy

3European Brain Research Institute, 00100 Rome, Italy

4Lay Line Genomics S.p.A., 00128 Rome, Italy

5Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biomediche,

Facoltà di Medicina, Università dell'Aquila, 67010

L'Aquila, Italy

Received 6 June 2005; revised 13 December 2005;

accepted 14 December 2005. Published: February 6,

2006. Available online 6 February 2006.

Summary

Resveratrol, a natural phytoalexin found in grapes and

red wine [1], increases longevity in the short-lived

invertebrates Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila 2,

3, 4 and 5 and exerts a variety of biological effects

in vertebrates, including protection from ischemia and

neurotoxicity 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Its effects on

vertebrate lifespan were not yet known. The relatively

long lifespan of mice, which live at least 2.5 years

[11], is a hurdle for life-long pharmacological

trials. Here, the authors used the short-lived

seasonal fish Nothobranchius furzeri with a maximum

recorded lifespan of 13 weeks in captivity 12 and 13.

Short lifespan in this species is not the result of

spontaneous or targeted genetic mutations [14], but a

natural trait correlated with the necessity to breed

in an ephemeral habitat and tied with accelerated

development and expression of ageing biomarkers at a

cellular level 12 and 13. Resveratrol was added to the

food starting in early adulthood and caused a

dose-dependent increase of median and maximum

lifespan. In addition, resveratrol delays the

age-dependent decay of locomotor activity and

cognitive performances and reduces the expression of

neurofibrillary degeneration in the brain. These

results demonstrate that food supplementation with

resveratrol prolongs lifespan and retards the

expression of age-dependent traits in a short-lived

vertebrate.

Author Keywords: HUMDISEASE; EVO_ECOL

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Current Biology

Volume 16, Issue 3 , 7 February 2006, Pages 296-300

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