Abstract
Tea polyphenols are widely considered as excellent antioxidant agents which can contribute to human health and longevity. However, the identification of the active biomolecules in complex tea extracts that promote health and longevity are not fully known. Here we used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to analyze the health benefits and longevity effects of Camellia sinensis oolong tea extracts (QFT, NFT, and CFT) and oolonghomobisflavan A and oolonghomobisflavan B, which are present in oolong tea extracts. Our results showed that oolong tea extracts and oolonghomobisflavans prolong lifespan and improved healthspan by curtailing the age-related decline in muscle activity and the accumulation of age pigment (lipofuscin). We found that the lifespan and healthspan promoting effects of oolong tea extracts and oolonghomobisflavans were positively correlated with the stress resistance via DAF-16/FOXO transcription factor. Furthermore, oolong tea extracts and oolonghomobisflavans displayed protective effects against Aβ- and polyQ-induced neuro/proteotoxicity. Overall, our study provides new evidence to support the health benefits of oolong tea and importantly identify oolonghomobisflavans as potent bioactive molecules that promote health when supplemented with a normal diet. As such, oolonghomobisflavans represent a valuable new class of compounds that promote healthy aging.
Highlights
Genetics, lifestyle, and the environment affect human health over an organism’s lifespan
The pharmacology of tea has been intensively studied [36] and includes different preparations of tea, including Qing flavor Tieguanyin oolong tea (QFT), Nong flavor Tieguanyin oolong tea (NFT), and Chen flavor Tieguanyin oolong tea (CFT), which differ in the degree of fermentation
We found that exposure to oolong tea extracts significantly increased the mean lifespan of alh-6(lax105) worms when compared to the mock-treated control group (Fig. 1b, Fig. S1b, d, f, Table S1), and the increase in lifespan was more profound than wild-type worms treated with oolong tea extracts
Summary
Lifestyle, and the environment affect human health over an organism’s lifespan. C. elegans shares similar physiological traits with humans, including reduced physiological indexes with age [2, 14], which are regulated by conserved molecular pathways [2, 15]. In C. elegans, the FoxO transcription factor DAF-16 plays an essential role in stress resistance, longevity, metabolism, and development [2, 16]. Recent studies have reported that similar to humans, the lifespan and healthspan of C. elegans are associated with stress tolerance and stress resistance [2, 9, 17]. Pharmacological treatment with antioxidants such as resveratrol [2, 18], anthocyanin [19], and epicatechin [20] have been demonstrated to improve lifespan and increase stress resistance, in part, by modulating DAF-16/FOXO signaling
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