Abstract: In this paper, the effect of ethanol on Caenorhabditis elegans lifespan was investigated by culturing it in a medium with different concentrations (4, 40 and 400 mmol/L) of ethanol. The results showed that 400 mmol/L ethanol could significantly extend the median lifespan by 11.76% and the mean lifespan by 15.78% (P < 0.05). The expression of lifespan-related genes (age-1, pdk-1, akt-1 and let-363) was detected using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to explore the potential molecular mechanisms. Our results demonstrated that ethanol induced lifespan extension in C. elegans could be due to the suppressed expression of the above four genes and consequent regulation of the downstream genes in both the insulin/IGF signalling (IIS) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathways.

Key words: Caenorhabditis elegans, longevity, ethanol, signaling pathways