Figure 7. Decaffeinated coffee and nicotine-free tobacco confer neuroprotection through an Nrf2-dependent mechanism. A, The glutathione abundance of WT animals raised on food supplemented with coffee, tobacco, decaffeinated coffee, or nicotine-free tobacco. B, The expression of GFP, relative to actin in transgenic flies bearing the Nrf2 reporter construct gstD1–GFP after exposure to food supplemented with coffee, tobacco, decaffeinated coffee, or nicotine-free tobacco. C, The abundance of the Cnc (the Drosophila Nrf2 homolog) transcript relative to ferritin in WT flies and in transgenic flies expressing a CncRNAi construct. D, The number of DA neurons in the PPL1 cluster of 20-d-old transgenic flies expressing the human α-synuclein protein and an RNAi construct targeting the Cnc transcript, after exposure to food containing coffee, tobacco, decaffeinated coffee, or nicotine-free tobacco extracts. Statistical tests were performed using Student's t test (*p < 0.05%). The genotypes were as follows: WT, W1118; gstD1-GFP, gstD1–GFP/gstD1–GFP; Elav-G, Elav–Gal4/+; Elav-CncRNAi, Elav–Gal4/+; UAS–CncRNAi/+; TH-CncRNAi, TH–Gal4/UAS–CncRNAi; TH-α-Syn; CncRNAi, TH–Gal4, UAS–α-synuclein/TH–Gal4, UAS–α-synuclein; UAS–CncRNAi/+.