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

Abstract

Human-based research in biology of aging poses challenges due to ethical, social, and cost considerations. Animal models offer a pragmatic alternative, though 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. A preliminary experiment investigated the effects of flax oil, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, on the lifespan of house crickets. Cold pressed flax oil was added to moistened guinea pig chow mash as a 10% mixture and fed to crickets starting at 8 weeks of age and continuing for 11 weeks when the last cricket died.  Results demonstrated a significant extension in survival for crickets fed the flax oil diet, further emphasizing the low cost, simplicity, and short time required for conducting dietary intervention studies in house crickets. Using this observation as a prototype, the house cricket is a promising and deserving model for intervention drug testing based on an aging platform.

Keywords: Aging, house cricket, lifespan, aging intervention, flax oil