Antiaging effect of a Jianpi-yangwei formula in Caenorhabditis elegans

Cordycepin extends the longevity of Caenorhabditis elegans via antioxidation and regulation of fatty acid metabolism

Aging can cause age-related diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Cordycepin exerts anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. However, the anti-aging effect of cordycepin is still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the anti-aging effect of cordycepin and unravel the underlying mechanism. Cordycepin prolonged the lifespan of C. elegans under normal and heat stress conditions, without effects on the normal growth and reproduction of C. elegans. Cordycepin also improved the locomotion ability, inhibited the deposition of aging pigment lipofuscin and alleviated the oxidative stress damage by decreasing the excessive accumulation of ROS and raising the antioxidant enzyme activities in C. elegans. The metabolomics study showed that cordycepin changed 19 metabolites including citric acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, glutamic acid, pyruvic acid and so on. Transcriptomics study revealed that cordycepin up-regulated the gene expression of acox-1.2, acox-1.3, acox-1.4, acs-1, acs-15, acdh-1, acdh-4 and acdh-8 in C. elegans, suggesting that cordycepin prolonged its lifespan via regulating fatty acid degradation, fatty acid metabolism and so on. In summary, the current study demonstrated that cordycepin exerted the anti-aging effect on C. elegans by improving the antioxidant system and regulating the genes involved in fatty acid metabolism to inhibit the accumulation of linoleic acid and oleic acid. Therefore, cordycepin might be a promising agent for aging and age-related diseases.

Oxidation and Antioxidation of Natural Products in the Model Organism Caenorhabditiselegans

Natural products are small molecules naturally produced by multiple sources such as plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and archaea. They exert both beneficial and detrimental effects by modulating biological targets and pathways involved in oxidative stress and antioxidant response. Natural products’ oxidative or antioxidative properties are usually investigated in preclinical experimental models, including virtual computing simulations, cell and tissue cultures, rodent and nonhuman primate animal models, and human studies. Due to the renewal of the concept of experimental animals, especially the popularization of alternative 3R methods for reduction, replacement and refinement, many assessment experiments have been carried out in new alternative models. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has been used for medical research since Sydney Brenner revealed its genetics in 1974 and has been introduced into pharmacology and toxicology in the past two decades. The data from C. elegans have been satisfactorily correlated with traditional experimental models. In this review, we summarize the advantages of C. elegans in assessing oxidative and antioxidative properties of natural products and introduce methods to construct an oxidative damage model in C. elegans. The biomarkers and signaling pathways involved in the oxidative stress of C. elegans are summarized, as well as the oxidation and antioxidation in target organs of the muscle, nervous, digestive and reproductive systems. This review provides an overview of the oxidative and antioxidative properties of natural products based on the model organism C. elegans.

Enhanced Healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans Treated With Extracts From the Traditional Chinese Medicine Plants Cuscuta chinensis Lam. and Eucommia ulmoides Oliv

To uncover potential anti-aging capacities of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was used to investigate the effects of Eucommia ulmoides and Cuscuta chinensis extracts, selected by screening seven TCM extracts, on different healthspan parameters. Nematodes exposed to E. ulmoides and C. chinensis extracts, starting at the young adult stage, exhibited prolonged lifespan and increased survival after heat stress as well as upon exposure to the pathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens, whereby the survival benefits were monitored after stress initiation at different adult stages. However, only C. chinensis had the ability to enhance physical fitness: the swimming behavior and the pharyngeal pumping rate of C. elegans were improved at day 7 and especially at day 12 of adulthood. Finally, monitoring the red fluorescence of aged worms revealed that only C. chinensis extracts caused suppression of intestinal autofluorescence, a known marker of aging. The results underline the different modes of action of the tested plants extracts. E. ulmoides improved specifically the physiological fitness by increasing the survival probability of C. elegans after stress, while C. chinensis seems to be an overall healthspan enhancer, reflected in the suppressed autofluorescence, with beneficial effects on physical as well as physiological fitness. The C. chinensis effects may be hormetic: this is supported by increased gene expression of hsp-16.1 and by trend, also of hsp-12.6.