Abstract
Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), a natural polysaccharide with good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, is the depolymerized product of chitosan possessing various biological activities. The present study was designed to investigate the possible anti-aging effect of COS on the aging model mouse induced by d-galactose (d-gal) and explore the underlying mechanism. In the experiment, 48 male Kunming mice (KM mice) were randomly divided into the normal group, model group, positive group, and low-medium-high dose polysaccharide groups (300, 600, 1200 mg/kg/day). The results showed that COS, by intragastric gavage after subcutaneous injection of d-gal (250 mg/kg/day) into the neck of mice consecutively for eight weeks, gradually recovered the body weight, the activity of daily living, and organ indices of mice, as well as effectively ameliorated the histological deterioration of the liver and kidney in mice triggered by d-gal. To be specific, COS obviously improved the activities of antioxidant enzymes in liver and kidney of KM mice, including catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), as well as decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) levels when compared with those in model group mice. Furthermore, COS not only elevated the diminished levels of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM induced by d-gal, but also significantly inhibited the d-gal-caused upregulation of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), uric acid (UA) and creatinine (CREA) levels as compared with those of mice in the model group. These results demonstrate that COS has an obvious anti-aging activity in d-gal-induced subacute aging mice, the mechanism of which, to some extent, is associated with enhancing the antioxidant defenses, reducing oxidative stress, and improving the immune function of aging model mice.
Highlights
Aging, known as senescence, is a complicated and irreversible degeneration that appears in body tissues, and in the physiological functions of body organs, such as poor immune responses, memory loss, and so on
Manifesting kidney-protecting activity, while renal edema and the balloon-widened cavity were occur when compared to the normal group. These results showed that Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) successfully alleviated these by significantly attenuated these unhealthy pathological changes of kidney tissue caused by D-gal, D-gal,D-gal-induced manifesting pathological kidney-protecting activity, renal tissues edemaofand the balloon-widened damages in liver while and kidney
Kunming mice (KM mice).cavity were manifesting kidney-protecting activity, while renal edema and the balloon-widened cavity were largely controlled for the COS-H group. These results showed that COS successfully alleviated these largely controlled for the COS-H group
Summary
Known as senescence, is a complicated and irreversible degeneration that appears in body tissues, and in the physiological functions of body organs, such as poor immune responses, memory loss, and so on. Numerous studies have discovered that aging is closely associated with diverse chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple cancers [1,2,3]. After entering the 21st century, with the trend of global aging and the improvement of living standards all over the world, health problems caused by aging and aging-associated diseases have become increasingly prominent. How to maintain the health of the elderly and delay the occurrence of aging and aging-related diseases has already become a common topic among people today, especially among the young, as well as a research hotspot for. Mar. Drugs 2018, 16, 181; doi:10.3390/md16060181 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs. Mar. Drugs 2018, 16, x FOR PEER REVIEW
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