Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026
Measurement of Lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster
Published on: January 7, 2013
Cranberry anthocyanin extract prolongs lifespan of fruit flies
Lijun Wang1, Yuk Man Li1, Lin Lei1
1Food and Nutritional Sciences Programme, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China.
Abstract:
Cranberry is an excellent source of dietary antioxidants. The present study investigated the effect of cranberry anthocyanin (CrA) extract on the lifespan of fruit flies with focus on its interaction with aging-related genes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), methuselah (MTH), insulin receptor (InR), target of rapamycin (TOR), hemipterus (Hep), and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK). Results showed that diet containing 20mg/mL CrA could significantly prolong the mean lifespan of fruit flies by 10% compared with the control diet. This was accompanied by up-regulation of SOD1 and down-regulation of MTH, InR, TOR and PEPCK. The stress resistance test demonstrated that CrA could reduce the mortality rate induced by H2O2 but not by paraquat. It was therefore concluded that the lifespan-prolonging activity of CrA was most likely mediated by modulating the genes of SOD1, MTH, InR, TOR and PEPCK.
