Metabolic alterations in genetically selected Drosophila strains with different longevities

Sometime ago we obtained biomarker data suggesting that the earliest determining event in the expression of the extended longevity phenotype in our selected strains of Drosophila took place early in adult life at about 5-7 days of age. In a later series of experiments we documented that our La and Lb long lived strains underwent a specific up-regulation of the antioxidant defense system (ADS) genes and enzymes. This led to a reduction in oxidative damage and an extended longevity. In the current work, we assayed the activity of 17 metabolically important enzymes in 5-7 day old flies of 13 strains variously selected for different longevities. We conclude that the two sets of replicated long-lived strains have an altered metabolic pattern (relative to normal-lived animals) which is consistent with an increased flux through the pentose shunt and an enhanced NADP+ reducing system to support the increased activity of the ADS enzymes. This result can be interpreted as a shift of energy expenditure from reproduction to somatic maintenance. We conclude that theories based on differential energy allocations appear to empirically explain, at least in part, the mechanisms underlying the transformation of a normal longevity phenotype to an extended longevity phenotype.