AUTHOR=Sayed Shimaa M. A. , Siems Karsten , Schmitz-Linneweber Christian , Luyten Walter , Saul Nadine 

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

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.604435

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.604435

ISSN=1663-9812

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