Carnosol Improved Lifespan and Healthspan by Promoting Antioxidant Capacity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Chunxiu Lin,Xiaoying Zhang,Zuanxian Su,Jie Xiao,Muwen Lv,Yunjiao Chen,Yong Cao

doi:10.1155/2019/5958043

Chunxiu Lin, Xiaoying Zhang + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/5958043

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Abstract

Carnosol, a phenolic diterpene, is one of the main constituents of Rosmarinus. It is known to possess a range of bioactivities, including antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Nevertheless, the antiaging effects of carnosol have received little attention. This study first indicated that carnosol increased the healthspan of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). First, compared with the control condition, carnosol treatment effectively decreased ROS accumulation under normal or oxidative stress condition, significantly increased several key antioxidant enzyme activities, and significantly decreased MDA content. Second, carnosol effectively prolonged lifespan under normal and stress conditions and slowed aging-related declines, including mobility, age pigmentation, and neurodegenerative disease, but had no effect on fertility and fat deposition. Finally, carnosol-mediated longevity required the upregulated expression of sod-3, sod-5, hsf-1, hsp-16.1, and hsp-16.2 and was dependent on the hsf-1 gene. Increased DAF-16 translocation was observed, but daf-16 was independent of the effects on lifespan induced by carnosol. These results suggested that carnosol might serve as a good source of natural antioxidants, and in particular, carnosol could be explored as a potential dietary supplement to slow aging.

Highlights

As people continue to age worldwide, prolonged lifespan and improved healthspan have become hot topics
The control group was treated with vehicle alone (0.2% ethanol), and the control groups for stress resistance, the lifespan of mutants, and paralysis assays were referred to previously published data [12]
The polyQ-dependent paralysis of AM140 was significantly delayed by 14% (Figure 5(g) and Table 2), indicating that carnosol could ameliorate detrimental effects during the development of age-related neurodegenerative diseases. These findings indicated that supplementation with carnosol could improve the healthspan of C. elegans, including improving mobility, reducing the formation of age pigments, and inhibiting the occurrence and development of neurodegenerative diseases, without affecting reproductive and fat deposition

Summary

Introduction

As people continue to age worldwide, prolonged lifespan and improved healthspan have become hot topics. The free radical theory proposes that the uncontrolled formation of oxygen free radicals and an imbalance in antioxidant protection induce numerous age-related diseases [1]. Various studies indicate that the antioxidative effects of natural antioxidants, such as (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a major polyphenol antioxidant in green tea, can scavenge these reactive oxygen species (ROS) and show efficacy in delaying the process of aging [2]. Carnosol was more effective at scavenging hydroxyl radicals and protecting DNA than vitamin C and vitamin E [6]. Carnosol had an inhibitory activity against lipid peroxidation and had a promoting effect on antioxidant enzymes in the liver of mice [7, 8]. The biological activity of carnosol is very interesting, but its antiaging effects and underlying mechanisms are still open questions that remain to be elucidated and are worthy of further discussion

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