Enteric viral infections promote systemic accelerated aging in Drosophila

Abstract

Do viral infections accelerate aging, and does this acceleration scale with pathogenicity? Using transcriptomic aging clocks, we measured biological age in Drosophila infected with four enteric RNA viruses spanning a broad pathogenicity range (i.e. reduction of host lifespan). All pathogenic infections accelerated aging and the magnitude of acceleration tracked pathogenicity. This pattern held across oral and systemic infection routes and was conserved in Caenorhabditis elegans where the non-pathogenic Orsay virus produced negligible aging acceleration. Pathway analysis indicated a systemic impact across aging hallmarks with virus- and tissue-specific signatures. Acceleration was comparable in females and males, but host context modulated the acceleration: the bacterial symbiont Wolbachia mitigated the virus-induced aging. Notably, biological age remained elevated even after viral clearance. These results demonstrate viruses act as age-distorters and link infection severity to lasting aging consequences, providing a quantitative framework for predicting long-term health effects of viral disease.