Royal Jelly and Its Components Promote Healthy Aging and Longevity: From Animal Models to Humans

Abstract

Aging is a natural phenomenon that occurs in all living organisms. In humans, aging is associated with lowered overall functioning and increased mortality out of the risk for various age-related diseases. Hence, researchers are pushed to find effective natural interventions that can promote healthy aging and extend lifespan. Royal jelly (RJ) is a natural product that is fed to bee queens throughout their entire life. Thanks to RJ, bee queens enjoy an excellent reproductive function and lengthened lifespan compared with bee workers, despite the fact that they have the same genome. This review aimed to investigate the effect of RJ and/or its components on lifespan/healthspan in various species by evaluating the most relevant studies. Moreover, we briefly discussed the positive effects of RJ on health maintenance and age-related disorders in humans. Whenever possible, we explored the metabolic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms through which RJ can modulate age-related mechanisms to extend lifespan. RJ and its ingredients—proteins and their derivatives e.g., royalactin; lipids e.g., 10-hydroxydecenoic acid; and vitamins e.g., pantothenic acid—improved healthspan and extended lifespan in worker honeybees Apis mellifera, Drosophila Melanogaster flies, Gryllus bimaculatus crickets, silkworms, Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes, and mice. The longevity effect was attained via various mechanisms: downregulation of insulin-like growth factors and targeting of rapamycin, upregulation of the epidermal growth factor signaling, dietary restriction, and enhancement of antioxidative capacity. RJ and its protein and lipid ingredients have the potential to extend lifespan in various creatures and prevent senescence of human tissues in cell cultures. These findings pave the way to inventing specific RJ anti-aging drugs. However, much work is needed to understand the effect of RJ interactions with microbiome, diet, activity level, gender, and other genetic variation factors that affect healthspan and longevity.

Apitherapy for Parkinson’s Disease: A Focus on the Effects of Propolis and Royal Jelly

“…Research documents antiaging effects of several bee products including RJ and propolis [ 36 , 37 ]. Accordingly, this review is aimed at investigating the effect of bee products on PD.…”

“…MRJPs account for around 80% of the protein fraction of RJ, and MRJPs1-5 constitute 82-90% of MRJPs. MRJP1 is the most abundant among all MRJPs [ 37 , 55 , 56 ]. Due to their high content of amino acids (up to 578), MRJPs are reported to prevent senescence of human cells in vitro [ 57 ] as they promote cell proliferation, cell adhesion, cell growth, and immunity [ 58 , 59 ].…”

“…Furthermore, RJ is rich in phenols, vitamins (especially niacin and B complex), minerals, and trace elements. It also contains small amounts of nucleotides (e.g., adenosine, guanosine, and adenosine monophosphate), several bioactive substances (e.g., acetylcholine), volatile organic compounds (e.g., acetic acid, esters, and aldehydes), ketones, alcohol, and other compounds that have not been identified yet [ 37 , 54 , 55 ]. The percentages of compounds in RJ are relative, and they vary considerably according to several factors including bee species, geographical location, season, botanical origin, and sugar suplementation to nurse bees [ 37 , 62 ].…”

New Insights into the Biological and Pharmaceutical Properties of Royal Jelly

“…MRJPs are longevity-promoting substances that increase the longevity period of Drosophila through promoting the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mediated signaling pathway [141]. Protein and lipid components in RJ have the potential to extend the life span in various living beings, including honeybees, crickets, silkworms, nematodes, mice, and inhibit senescence of human tissues in cell cultures via down-regulation of insulin-like growth factors and up-regulation of epidermal growth factor signaling [25]. Moreover, 10-HDA is used to increase the longevity of C. elegans via reduced insulin-like signaling (ILS) and increase the lifespan by dietary restriction signaling and the target of rapamycin (TOR) components in C. elegans [142].…”

“…To date, the importance of RJ has attracted attention around the world, which is evidenced by the growth in the number of publications and citations in the core collection of the Web of Science (Figure 2). Recently, the origin and function of RJ, such as major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) for the development of the larvae [21], antimicrobial properties [9], medicinal value [20,22], proteins and peptides [23], the potential applications for cancer treatment [24], and health aging and longevity [25] have been reported. To better understand the biochemistry, biological, and pharmaceutical response to health and life benefits of RJ, we update the knowledge from the research advances of the biological activities and pharmaceutical applications of RJ and its bioactive ingredients that are associated with farm animals, micro-organisms, laboratory animals, insects, and clinical trials in humans.…”