A promising discovery of an anti-aging chemical conjugate derived from lipoic acid and sesamol established in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Phytonutrients, lipoic acid and sesamol, were chemically combined to yield the medically important lipoic acid–sesamol conjugate (LSC). NMR and LC-MS/MS techniques were used to determine the chemical structure of the LSC. The electronic parameters of the LSC were identified using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and analysed to evaluate the biological properties. The male and female flies of Drosophila melanogaster (Canton-S) were treated with the purified LSC to investigate the critical in vivo biological parameters. LSC (30 μM and 60 μM) treated flies were monitored for their lifespan and survival under heat shock, cold shock, oxidative stress, and starvation stress. We could observe that lower concentrations of the LSC increased the survival of female flies up to 18% (33 days survival) and of male flies up to 15% (31 days survival) compared with control. Also, LSC treated male and female flies display longevity when exposed to heat shock, oxidative stress, and starvation stress. This is an important aspect of discovery in the area of anti-aging studies and it will open up avenues for further investigation.