Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 6 pp 5300—5317

Figure 1. Verapamil extends lifespan and improves healthspan in C. elegans. (A) Around 1,386 FDA-approved drugs were screened, and C. elegans were used as the model for lifespan evaluation. Finally, verapamil was selected as a hit anti-aging compound. (B) Verapamil extended the lifespan of wildtype C. elegans (N2) at 100 μM (^***P < 0.001) and 400 μM (^**P < 0.01). (C) Verapamil (100 μM and 400 μM) did not reduce bacterial growth. Multiple t-tests were used to calculate the P-values and error bars represent SEM. (D) Verapamil increased the crawling speed of worms on day 2 (100 μM, ^****P < 0.0001; 400 μM, ^****P < 0.0001), but had no influence in late life. (E) Verapamil significantly increased the number of body bends on day 8 (400 μM, ^*P < 0.05) and day 12 (100 μM, ^*P < 0.05; 400 μM, ^**P < 0.01). A two-way ANOVA along with Sidak multiple comparisons test was used to calculate P-values, and error bars represent SEM in (D) and (E). (F) Total Avid was significantly decreased by verapamil (100 μM, ^**P < 0.01; 400 μM, ^**P < 0.01). An unpaired t-test was used to calculate the P-values and error bars represent SEM. (G) Verapamil specifically improved the resistant to osmotic stress (400 μM, ^**P < 0.01), but had no effect at 100 μM. The log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test was used to assess the P-values in (B) and (G).