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Drugs lengthen worm's life span.


A class of antiseizure drugs slows aging and increases life span life span
n.
1. A lifetime.
2. The average or maximum length of time an organism, a material, or an object can be expected to survive or last.
 in the roundworm roundworm /round·worm/ (round´werm) any worm of the class Nematoda; a nematode.

round·worm (roundwûrm)
n.
 Coenorhabditis elegans, researchers have found.

Because C. elegans has a naturally short life span--about 2 weeks, on average--scientists frequently use the species to explore aging. Previous studies have identified genetic modifications that can increase the worms' life span. However, few studies have examined whether drugs might have a life-extending effect as well, says Kerry Kornfeld of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

He and his colleagues dosed separate groups of the worms with various types of drugs, ranging from diuretics
1. pertaining to or causing diuresis.
2. an agent that promotes diuresis.

high-ceiling diuretics , loop diuretics those exerting their action on the sodium reabsorption mechanism of the thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle, resulting in excretion of urine isotonic with plasma.
 to anti-depressants
cardiac depressant  an agent that depresses the rate or force of contraction of the heart.


de·pres·sant (d-prs
. Although most of the drugs had no effect or were toxic to the worms, Kornfeld's team found that ethosuximide ethosuximide /etho·sux·i·mide/ (-suk´si-mid) an anticonvulsant used in the treatment of seizures in absence epilepsy., an anticonvulsant
anti·con·vulsive (-sv) adj.
 drug, increased the worms' life span by 17 percent.

A chemically related drug, trimethadione trimethadione /tri·meth·a·di·one/ (tri?meth-ah-di´on) an anticonvulsant with analgesic properties, used for the control of petit mal seizures.

tri·meth·a·di·one (tr-m
, extended the worms' lives by a whopping 47 percent, the team reports in the Jan. 14 Science.

The anticonvulsant drugs increased the worms' motility and stimulated egg laying, suggesting that the chemicals interact with C. elegans' nervous system. Kornfeld and his colleagues are now investigating whether the drugs deliver their life-extending effects by acting on still-to-be-discovered nerve cell processes that regulate aging.

Despite the boost in longevity that the anticonvulsant drugs yielded in worms, Kornfeld cautions that a similar effect has not been documented in people.
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Title Annotation:Biology
Publication:Science News
Article Type:Brief Article
Geographic Code:1U4MO
Date:Feb 5, 2005
Words:220
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