Two proteins were needed for fasting benefits in worms
Four-hour daily fasts for five days extended lifespan and improved later-life activity in normal worms, but not in mutants lacking either protein.
5 days
Limit: Lifespan assays used only 105 worms across three plates
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Experiments in Caenorhabditis elegans worms compared normal worms with mutants lacking either of two proteins, peroxiredoxin 2 or peroxiredoxin 6. Researchers withheld food for four hours daily during the first five days of adulthood, then fed the worms again. Controls remained on food. Lifespan assays used 105 worms across three plates.
In normal worms, fasting extended lifespan and improved swimming activity later in life. It also reduced age-related fat buildup and fragmentation of mitochondria, the cells’ energy-producing structures. Fasting briefly increased reactive oxygen molecules in mitochondria. Worms lacking peroxiredoxin 2 gained no lifespan benefit; those lacking peroxiredoxin 6 had shorter lifespans after fasting than their non-fasted controls. Neither mutant gained the activity benefits. The authors identified both proteins as sensors that linked fasting’s brief chemical signal to changes in mitochondria and fat metabolism.
Why it matters
Fasting changes how cells use nutrients; this work examined how those changes connect to lifespan and physical activity in old age.
Caveats
These laboratory experiments in worms do not establish whether the same fasting schedule benefits people.
The paper
Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway
Redox Biology, May 22, 2026, Open access
Comments
Be the first to comment.