Abstract
Though the lifespan extension mechanism is partly understood from C. elegans to mice, a viable pharmacological intervention is not yet feasible. Here, we report that reserpine largely known as an antipsychotic–antihypertensive drug, can extend C. elegans lifespan. Chronic reserpine treatment from embryo stage or young adults extends the C. elegans lifespan robustly at 25°C. Most importantly, the reserpine treated long lived worms are active (locomotion and pharyngeal pumping) for a long time thereby conferring high quality throughout life. Reserpine mediated lifespan extension is independent of the daf-16 pathway and partly requires serotonin. Reserpine treatment makes the worms highly thermotolerant. Thus, in addition to its known function, reserpine is able to provide stress tolerance and lifespan extension in C. elegans.
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Acknowledgment
We thank Dr. K. Subramaniam for help with the worm expertise, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India for financial support and C. elegans Stock Center, supported by National Institutes of Health, for providing the mutant strains of C. elegans.
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Srivastava, D., Arya, U., SoundaraRajan, T. et al. Reserpine can confer stress tolerance and lifespan extension in the nematode C. elegans . Biogerontology 9, 309–316 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-008-9139-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10522-008-9139-5