Study summary · research use only
Effect of epitalon on the lifespan increase in Drosophila melanogaster
Plain-language summary
Paraphrased from the published abstract below — not a verdict on whether anything works.
This animal study examined the peptide epitalon (a synthetic tetrapeptide, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly) in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (wild strain Canton-S), with the substance added to the culture medium only during the developmental stage. The abstract reports that epitalon was associated with an increase in adult lifespan of 11-16% at the concentrations tested (from 0.001 x 10(-6) to 5 x 10(-6) wt.% of medium for males and from 0.01 x 10(-6) to 0.1 x 10(-6) wt.% for females). The authors state that the lifespan increase did not depend on the dose. They note that the concentrations at which an effect was observed were 16,000-80,000,000 times lower than those of melatonin, and discuss possible antioxidant and regulatory mechanisms.
Abstract
The geroprotector activity of epitalon, a synthetic tetrapeptide Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, was studied on the Drosophila melanogaster wild strain Canton-S. The substance was added to the culture medium only at the developmental stage (from egg to larva). Epitalon significantly increased the lifespan (LS) of imagoes by 11-16% when applied at unprecedented low concentrations-from 0.001 x 10(-6) to 5 x 10(-6) wt.% of culture medium for males and from 0.01 x 10(-6) to 0.1 x 10(-6) wt.% of culture medium for females. The increase in LS did not depend on the substance dose. Effective concentrations of epitalon were 16,000-80,000,000 times lower than those of melatonin. The possible mechanisms of the antioxidant and regulatory effects of epitalon are discussed.
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