Tricking our bodies into living longer

Researchers have ‘tricked’ a worm’s metabolism into a state of caloric restriction, extending the animal’s life span by 50%.

In a study published in Aging Cell, the authors used a small drug-like molecule that alters the perception of food in the nematode C. elegans. The study provides a new avenue of inquiry for researchers who are attempting to develop human drugs that mimic the positive effects of a Spartan diet. Caloric restriction has shown to extend life- and healthspan in simple animals and mice.

“This small molecule blocks the detection of food in the worm’s mouth,” said Buck Institute faculty and senior author Gordon Lithgow, PhD. “The worm senses that its mouth is empty even when it is full of food, tricking the animal into shifting its physiology into a caloric restricted state even when it’s eating normally,” he said.

Lead author Mark Lucanic, PhD, found that the small molecule, NP1, impinged on a food perception pathway by promoting glutamate signalling in the pharynx of the animal. “The chemical activated a neurotransmitter-controlled food deprivation signal which altered the animal’s normal metabolism into a caloric restriction state,” Lucanic said.

Lithgow said exploring sensory pathways as potential drug targets should be of interest to age researchers interested in mimicking caloric restriction in order to extend health span — the period of an individual’s life in which they are mainly healthy and free from serious illness. “The mechanisms involved in sensory pathways may be more specific than secondary pathways that detect energy levels or absorbed nutrients at the cellular level,” he said, adding that targeting sensory pathways may lead to a more rapid response to changing diet, and may also have fewer effects on other systems in the body.