WESTPORT, Sep 01 (Reuters Health) - Treatment with synthetic superoxide dismutase (SOD)/catalase mimetics significantly lengthens the life-span of the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, according to a report in the September 1st issue of Science.

EUK-8 and its more potent analog, EUK-134, exhibit both SOD- and catalase-like activities, which have been shown to ameliorate oxidative stress in several disease models and to rescue some mice lacking normal mitochondrial SOD, the authors explain.

To test the theory that reactive oxygen species cause aging, Dr. Gordon J. Lithgow, of the University of Manchester, UK, and colleagues treated C. elegans with EUK-8 and EUK-134 and compared their life-spans with those of untreated worms.

In wild-type worms, treatment significantly increased both mean and maximum life-spans, the report indicates. EUK-134, for example, increased the mean life-span by 54%.

EUK-134 also restored a normal life-span to mutant worms that exhibited accelerated aging by increasing their mean life-span by 67%, the authors report.

Neither mimetic significantly altered fertility or body size, the investigators note, suggesting that the life-span increase does not rely on a nonspecific reduction in metabolism.

"We propose that EUK-8 and EUK-134 extend life-span by augmenting natural antioxidant defenses without having any overt effects on other traits," the authors conclude. "These results suggest that endogenous oxidative stress is a major determinant of the rate of aging."

Science 2000;289:1567-1569.

(From ReutersHealth)