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Alaskan berry treatments maintain C. elegans motility and sarcomere integrity with age
Author(s) -
Touray Farimang,
Maulik Malabika,
Scerbak Courtney,
Vayndorf Elena,
Ito Abel Bult,
Taylor Barbara
Publication year - 2017
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.31.1_supplement.645.14
Subject(s) - vaccinium , biology , disease , berry , caenorhabditis elegans , motility , physiology , medicine , botany , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene
Maintaining health with age is a major health concern due to loss of muscle mass, locomotion and increased likelihood of developing neurodegenerative disease associated with increased chronological age. This project aims to study the impact of consuming Arctic‐adapted Alaskan berries has on the maintenance of health with age. We tested the hypothesis that bog blueberry ( Vaccinium uliginosum) and low bush cranberry ( Vaccinium vitis‐idaea ) treatments improve various markers of health in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans . Individually, blueberry and low bush cranberry treatments significantly increase mean lifespan and result in the maintenance of motility with age. However, concurrent blueberry and cranberry treatment results in no significant change in lifespan and no improvement in motility over control, suggesting that the molecular mechanisms behind the lifespan extension of the two berries are antagonistic. For muscle integrity, only Alaskan blueberry had a significant improvement in muscle integrity when compared to the control. We also investigated the role of Alaskan berry treatments on the onset of paralysis in C. elegans models of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. This study establishes the role of Alaskan botanicals as possible therapeutic agents for aging and neurodegenerative disorders, and encourages further exploration of active ingredients within the extracts. Support or Funding Information Project funded by Biomedical Learning and Student Training (BLaST)