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Diet Restriction Exacerbates Memory Loss in Alzheimer's Disease Drosophila melanogaster Model Flies
Author(s) -
Damschroder Deena Jan,
Paddock Brie
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1016.3
Subject(s) - drosophila melanogaster , disease , drosophila (subgenus) , biology , neuroscience , physiology , medicine , genetics , gene
Major risk factors for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) include aging and diabetes. Although among the top ten leading causes of death in the U.S., there is still no cure for AD (Ho, 2004). It is believed that diet restriction (DR) and caloric restriction (CR) increase lifespan due to the fact that they slow the aging process and oxidation process, two processes which contribute to AD (Cline, 2000). It is unclear whether the extension of lifespan in humans and animal models corresponds with a delay in degeneration associated with aging (Burger et al 2010). This study uses the aversive phototaxis assay (Ali et al. , 2011) to examine how diets consisting of reduced sucrose and reduced yeast affect the memory in a Drosophila model of AD. Our results support the hypothesis that nutrient availability plays a key role in the pathogenesis of AD, but that CR is not necessarily protective against neuronal deterioration. Support or Funding Information College of Arts and Sciences, Arcadia University