A healthy aging research update from Amway R&D
The development
In a study using Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies as models, Amway scientists and collaborators observed that botanical extracts of rosemary and ginger changed parameters associated with cellular aging.
Amway Research & Development (R&D) collaborated on the study with Amway Scientific Advisory Board member David Walker, PhD. Walker is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology and world-renowned researcher of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of aging and health decline. His team at UCLA conducted the testing using a grant and botanical materials provided by Amway.
The team observed that when they fed the fruit flies combinations of certain preparations of rosemary and ginger extracts together, the fruit flies showed improvement in three recognized hallmarks of aging: cognitive function, intestinal barrier function and autophagy (the cell’s ability to recycle damaged pieces of itself)1.
Why it is significant
These are exciting results because, while the study was conducted using a model organism and not in humans, the observations could be useful in helping scientists better understand how these botanicals may impact processes and functions in human cells. The observations were reported in a peer-reviewed article in the highly respected scientific journal Aging and Disease2.
Amway Research & Development is focused on understanding aging with health, according to Arun Rajgopal, PhD., Amway Principal Research Scientist. This study is about understanding the role botanicals can play in that process.
“Scientists agree that an organism’s aging is about cellular aging3,” Rajgopal explained. “We are focused on maintaining the health of the cell and delaying damage to the cell structure and function, therefore prolonging its health and operation as a functional unit of the body. We are using the fruit fly model to screen and study botanicals that may support cellular health in this way.”
Lifespan, healthspan, cognitive function observations
As cells age, two parameters of their health decline: vitality and resilience. Vitality is cells’ functional ability. Resilience is their ability to respond to stressors. A decrease in cellular resilience affects cellular vitality, which can lead to cellular aging. Thus, protecting cellular resilience may help support healthy cellular aging.
“Based on results of our work studying key cellular mechanisms associated with cell aging, we have evidence that cellular mechanisms like autophagy – the process where cells break down and recycle their damaged components – and production of the enzyme AMPK are important to normal cellular function4 to maintain overall cell health as we age,” Rajgopal said.
Walker added, “In terms of the cellular hallmarks of aging, feeding rosemary plus ginger leads to AMPK activation and improved markers of autophagy and proteostasis in aged flies. Proteostasis is the process of maintaining the proper balance, structure and function of proteins within an organism. Further, we observed that feeding the combination improved cognitive function in aged flies and lead to robust lifespan extension.
“We found that the extended lifespan effect is linked to improved intestinal barrier function in aged flies,” Walker said. “Critically, loss of intestinal barrier function is coupled with the flies’ decline and death5, so forestalling intestinal barrier dysfunction likely played a major role in prolonging the flies’ healthspan.”
But why fruit flies?
Walker said the Drosophila melanogaster species is widely recognized as a model organism to study the basic biology of aging.
“Drosophila fruit flies are used to screen and study botanicals that may support healthy aging because they show many aspects of aging shown in people but at a much faster rate,” said Walker. “We can manipulate their genes, diet and lifestyle to get insights into the mechanisms that are causing aging.
“Using preliminary models such as Drosophila helps researchers better design human clinical trials,” Walker added. “What we see in fruit flies may not be exactly true in humans, but we are realizing that focusing on healthy aging and identifying ways to support healthspan, as Amway is doing, should be a priority.”
What happens next
Based on results observed in aged flies, Amway R&D is collaborating on a human clinical study to evaluate the blend’s bioavailability and potential to support healthy cellular aging in humans. Amway R&D looks forward to sharing more results as the internal and collaborative work of advancing the science of healthy aging advances.
Arun Rajgopal, PhD is a principal research scientist at Amway, where his areas of focus are healthy aging and the role of plant nutrients in healthspan, especially omega-3 and protein. He evaluates botanicals by experimentation, using cellular and molecular biology to assess their potential affect on biological mechanisms and then, through performance screening, identify the best plant for the job.
David Walker, PhD is an Amway Scientific Advisory Board member and professor at UCLA, where his work is advancing understanding of how the aging process drives health decline and reduces quality of life, as well as how those mechanisms may become therapeutic targets to counteract the overall aging process. Click here to learn more about David.
1 Lopez-Otin C, Blasco MA, Partridge L, Serrano M, Kroemer G (2023). Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe. Cell, 186:243-278.
2 Ricardo Aparicio et al. The Impact of Rosemary and Ginger Extracts on Aging and Healthspan in Drosophila. Aging and Disease, 7 March 2025. Accessed at https://www.aginganddisease.org/EN/10.14336/AD.2024.1558
3 Lopez-Otin C, Blasco MA, Partridge L, Serrano M, Kroemer G (2023). Hallmarks of aging: An expanding universe. Cell, 186:243-278.
4 Madeo F, Carmona-Gutierrez D, Hofer SJ, Kroemer G. Caloric Restriction Mimetics against Age-Associated Disease: Targets, Mechanisms, and Therapeutic Potential. Cell Metab. 2019 Mar 5;29(3):592-610. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2019.01.018. PMID: 30840912.
5 Salazar AM, Aparicio R, Clark RI, Rera M, Walker DW. Intestinal barrier dysfunction: an evolutionarily conserved hallmark of aging. Dis Model Mech. 2023 Apr 1;16(4):dmm049969. doi: 10.1242/dmm.049969. Epub 2023 May 4. PMID: 37144684; PMCID: PMC10184675
