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

Abstract

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.

Prediction of biological age by morphological staging of sarcopenia in Caenorhabditis elegans

“…In conclusion, we here present a tool that is capable of predicting C. elegans healthspan, based on myofilament features, as exemplified by our analysis of an insulin/IGF1-like signalling mutant. In its current form, this tool can be used downstream of the many high-throughput screens for genes, treatments and compounds that modulate healthspan in C. elegans ( Bulterijs and Braeckman, 2020 ; Le et al, 2020 ; Luyten et al, 2016 ; Sayed et al, 2021 ). It objectively probes for the effect of such treatments on sarcopenia, an age-related pathology conserved from worms to humans.…”

Health and longevity studies in C. elegans: the “healthy worm database” reveals strengths, weaknesses and gaps of test compound-based studies

“…The hormesis effect is the biphasic response to low and high doses of chemical, biological, or physical exposures (Kendig et al 2010), and is responsible for the known beneficial effects of toxins or dangerous radiation in low doses (Feinendegen 2005;Lajqi et al 2019). However, several studies suggested that hormesis is also the main mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of natural extracts and polyphenols (Brunetti et al 2020;Di Rosa et al 2020;Martel et al 2019;Saul et al 2011;Sayed et al 2021). This assumption is sometimes also called more specifically 'xenohormesis' (Lamming et al 2004;Suter and Lucock 2017), and can be explained by the fact that certain plant metabolites, such as polyphenols, are produced especially in stressed plants (Mellway et al 2009).…”

Tracing anti‐osteoporosis components from raw and salt‐processed semen of Cuscuta chinensis by employing a biochemometrics strategy that integrates ultrasonic‐assisted extraction, quantitation, efficacy assessment in zebrafish, and grey relationship analysis

“…Crude and salt‐processed CC are two kinds of commonly used CC in clinical practice. Modern pharmacological research revealed that extracts of CC exhibited various biological activities including anti‐osteoporosis [7], anti‐inflammation [8], hepatoprotective [9], anti‐aging [10], and anti‐depressant. The major components of Semen of Cuscuta chinensis were phenolics and flavonoids, including chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, p ‐hydroxycinnamic acid, hyperin, astragalin, quercetin, and kaempferol [6].…”