Curcumin supplementation increases survival and lifespan in Drosophila under heat stress conditions

Authors: CHEN, YONG - Zhejiang University; LIU, XIN - Zhejiang University; JIANG, CHENMIN - Zhejiang University; LIU, LIANG - University Of Georgia; ORDOVAS, JOSE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; Lai, Chao Qiang; SHEN, LIRONG - Zhejiang University

Submitted to: Biofactors
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/2018
Publication Date: 11/29/2018
Citation: Chen, Y., Liu, X., Jiang, C., Liu, L., Ordovas, J.M., Lai, C., Shen, L. 2018. Curcumin supplementation increases survival and lifespan in Drosophila under heat stress conditions. Biofactors. 44(6):577-587. https://doi.org/10.1002/biof.1454.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/biof.1454

Interpretive Summary: Harsh climatic conditions, such a high temperature, induce heat stress and increase the risk of death, especially in the elderly. To test if curcumin (CUR) supplementation raises survival rate under heat stress condition, we fed fruit flies basal diets with or without CUR supplementation (0.2 mg CUR/g), and the flies were subjected to different levels of heat stress conditions. Our results showed that while heat stress shortened the lifespan of fruit flies when fed the non-supplemented diet. Conversely, supplementation with CUR extended the lifespan up to 15.7%. Moreover, we found that CUR supplementation reduced heat stress-induced oxidation due to increased expression of several enzymes that reduce oxidative stress. Our findings imply that dietary supplementation of CUR increases survival rate of fruit flies in situations of heat stress.

Technical Abstract: Harsh climate induces physiological stress thus compromising organismal survival. Our previous studies demonstrated that curcumin (CUR) supplementation increased survival of turtle under heat stress (HS). Here, we span this work to investigate the survival and lifespan of HS Drosophila fed a diet supplemented with CUR. For this purpose, female and male flies were fed basal diet (N) and CUR diet (0.2 mg/g), and exposed to three conditions: 25°C and 29°C continuously, and 34°C for two hours at days 1, 4, 7, then kept at 25°C. Lifespan analysis showed that, compared to N-25°C flies, the mean lifespans of N-29°C and N-34°C flies were decreased by 8.5% and 15.7% in males, by 3.7% and 7.9% in females. Conversely, in the CUR-supplemented diet, mean lifespans of C-29°C and C-34°C flies were extended by 8.7-16.4% in males, and by 8.9-12.8% in females, compared to that of temperature-matched flies fed basal diets. Furthermore, CUR palliated the increased oxidative stress caused by HS, up-regulating the expression of SOD1, CAT and PHGPx, and down-regulating the expression of Hsp70 and Hsp83. Our results demonstrate that CUR supplementation increases the survival rate of Drosophila by enhancing thermal tolerance and alleviating oxidative stress caused by HS.