Congratulations to Oleh Lushchak and his team – Ulyana Semaniuk, Olha Strilbytska and Nadia Burdyliuk, as well as docents Maria Bailyak and Dmytro Gospodaryov with the publication of a new article – Chili-supplemented food decreases glutathione-S-transferase activity in Drosophila melanogaster females without a change in other parameters of antioxidant system – in the prestigious international journal Redox Report (impact factor – 5.696)! The publication is co-authored by the colleagues from the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, as well as by a long-term partner of the department – Professor Kenneth Storey from Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada). The research was a part of the project “Intermediates of the phenylpropanoid pathway as substances for lifespan extension”, financed by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine.
It is often believed that the usefulness of herbal preparations is related to their ability to activate the antioxidant defense system of an organism. On the fruit fly model, Drosophila melanogaster, Oleh Lushchak’s team discovered that chili pepper does not activate antioxidant defense, but even suppresses some its individual components. In parallel, it was found that the activity of the antioxidant defense system differs in male and female fruit flies, and its individual components work in a strictly coordinated manner. Despite the fact that the chili pepper diet has a little effect on the antioxidant system of the fruit fly, it significantly extends the insect’s lifespan. However, a possible mechanism for this extension is already covered in another publication in the journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry Food & Function: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2022/FO/D2FO00930G