The house cricket is an unrecognized but potentially powerful model for aging intervention studies

Abstract

Human-based research on the biology of aging poses challenges due to ethical, social, and cost considerations. Animal models offer a pragmatic alternative, although no single model fully replicates all aspects of human aging. One unexplored model for studying aging is the house cricket (Acheta domesticus). House crickets present advantages for aging intervention research, such as consuming an omnivorous diet, availability on a heterogeneous genetic background, short lifespan, and simple but well-defined organ systems. In a preliminary experiment, the effects of flax oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, on the lifespan of house crickets were investigated. Cold-pressed flax oil was added as a 10% mixture to moist guinea pig chow mash and fed to crickets starting at 8 weeks of age and continuing for 11 weeks until the last cricket died. Results demonstrated a significant extension in survival of crickets fed the flax oil diet, further emphasizing the low cost, simplicity, and short time required to conduct dietary intervention studies in house crickets. Using this observation as a prototype, the house cricket is a promising and deserving model for interventional drug testing based on an aging platform.

Keywords: Aging; aging intervention; flax oil; house cricket; lifespan.

Figure 1.

Internal structures of the domestic house cricket.

Figure 2.

Beginning at 8 weeks of age, house crickets were fed guinea pig chow with 10% flax oil versus crickets fed just guinea pig chow. Lifespan in the two cohorts was assessed using Kaplan-Meier (log-rank) survival analysis. Time points were assigned equal weight using a Mantel-Cox test. P < 0.05. N = 29-30 per cohort.