Abstract
Being subjected to a mild stress can increase resistance to a stronger stress, but the idea of using mild stress to improve aging has not been systematically assessed until recent years. Several studies in the fly Drosophila melanogaster have shown that various mild stresses (hypergravity, heat, cold, irradiation) increase longevity; some mild stresses also increase the resistance to strong stresses (e.g., heat) and delay behavioral aging. The synthesis of the 70 kDa heat shock protein can explain the resistance to heat but not the increased longevity. The increased longevity induced by hypergravity is, however, not explained by the synthesis of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase. Therefore, for the time being, no explanation exists for the increased longevity and the delayed behavioral aging induced by a mild stress.
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Abbreviations
- CAT:
-
Catalase
- g:
-
Gravity
- HG:
-
Hypergravity
- Hsp:
-
Heat shock protein
- SOD:
-
Superoxide dismutase
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Bourg, É.L. (2009). Mild Stress and Life Extension in Drosophila melanogaster . In: Sell, C., Lorenzini, A., Brown-Borg, H. (eds) Life-Span Extension. Aging Medicine. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-507-1_5
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