Keiya Ohmine, Yuki Morinaga, Sarina Kobayashi, Aika Matsubara, Kaito Sadanaga, Shuhei Tohtani, Hideaki Saeki, Hiroto Horiuchi, Yuta Fujikawa, Koichiro Sumi, Midori Natsume, Hideshi Inoue
Procyanidins are gaining attention due to their potential health benefits. We found that cacao liquor procyanidin (CLPr) from Theobroma cacao seeds increased the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans, a representative model organism for aging studies. The genetic dependence of the lifespan-extending effect of CLPr was consistent with that of blueberry procyanidin, which is dependent on unc-43, osr-1, sek-1, and mev-1, but not on daf-16, sir-2.1, or skn-1. The lifespan-extending effect of CLPr was inhibited by neuron-specific RNA interference (RNAi) targeting unc-43 and pmk-1, and in worms with loss-of-function mutations in the odr-3, odr-1, or tax-4 genes, which are essential in sensory neurons, including AWC neurons...
February 16, 2024: Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences