Meta-analytic evidence for the anti-aging effect of hormesis on .

Mild stress-induced hormesis, as a promising strategy to improve longevity and healthy aging, meets both praise and criticism. To comprehensively assess the applicability of hormesis in aging intervention, this meta-analysis was conducted focusing on the effect of hormesis on . Twenty-six papers involving 198 effect size estimates met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analytic results indicated that hormesis could significantly extend the mean lifespan of by 16.7% and 25.1% under normal and stress culture conditions ( < 0.05), respectively. The healthspan assays showed that hormesis remarkably enhanced the bending frequency and pumping rate of worms by 28.9% and 7.0% ( < 0.05), respectively, while effectively reduced the lipofuscin level by 15.9% ( < 0.05). The obviously increased expression of (1.66-fold) and its transcriptional targets, including (2.46-fold), (2.32-fold) and (2.88-fold) ( < 0.05), was one of the molecular mechanisms underlying these positive effects of hormesis. This meta-analysis provided strong evidence for the anti-aging role of hormesis, highlighting its lifespan-prolonging, healthspan-enhancing and resistance-increasing effects on . Given that was highly conservative, hormesis offered the theoretical possibility of delaying intrinsic aging through exogenous intervention among humans.