Gut Hormones, The Secret To A Longer Life?

Fruit fly research raises questions about human ageing pathways

The gut could be key to understanding longevity, as per a study that found a gut hormone in fruit flies could control lifespan, a result important to humans as both species have many similar genes and hormones.

Researchers at Brown University in the US have found that suppressing the insulin-regulating 'neuropeptide F' hormone in the gut of fruit flies extended longevity. The findings are important for humans too, especially as new diabetes and obesity drugs developed from gut hormones in the same insect family are becoming widespread, researchers said. Understanding ageing mechanisms in flies may thus help explain what's happening in humans, they said.