A multi-ingredient food supplement slows age-dependent decline of mobility and influences gene expression in C. elegans.

Abstract

The goal of developing interventions to slow ageing is not only lifespan extension but more importantly to increase healthspan, the period of life spent in active good health. Nutritional interventions have emerged as a potential strategy to maintain health with age. Testing these interventions for effects on human ageing would take several years and require large cohort sizes. We therefore employed C. elegans as a rapidly ageing model organism to investigate the effects of two commercially available nutrition-based products on ageing-related decline of mobility as an indication of healthspan. These products are multi-ingredient formulations comprising vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids and botanical extracts. They include compounds expected to positively influence ageing such as Dihydronicotinamide mononucleotide, NAD + booster, trans-resveratrol, taurine, pterostilbene and bioflavonoids. V14™ contains 40 + ingredients and AG1® contains 70 + ingredients with 5 additional probiotic strains. Mobility-based readouts over time were obtained using WormGazer™ imaging technology. Worms exposed to V14™ showed increased movement and speed with age compared to those exposed to AG1® and to a solvent control. To investigate the underlying mechanisms, transcriptomic profiling was performed on V14™ exposed worms, revealing modulation of pathways involved in metabolism and stress responses, processes associated with ageing. Collectively, these findings suggest that V14™ delays age-related decline in C. elegans and highlight the potential of targeted nutritional interventions to modulate pathways relevant to human ageing.