Chinese medicinal plant root extract prolonged life

Longer life through root extract?

A root extract of the multi-flowered knotweed allows the nematode C. elegans to live longer and protects it from oxidative stress. This is shown by researchers in a new study. They thus provide scientifically sound evidence for the efficacy of this extract, which is mainly used in traditional Chinese medicine and as a dietary supplement.

The many-flowered knotweed enjoys great popularity. He should be rejuvenating and especially healthy. Scientifically-based studies on the effects, however, have so far been few.

For the current study, the researchers examined whether the frequently advertised anti-aging effects can actually be detected. For this they administered a high amount of the extract to the roundworm C. elegans, a commonly used model organism in the biology and life sciences.

At a concentration of 1,000 micrograms per milliliter, the group was able to observe various effects: The lifetime of the worms extended by just under 19 percent. In two further short tests, the scientists investigated to what extent the agent also protects the worms from oxidative stress or heat stress. It showed that the extract does not improve the survival rate of worms in heat, but reduces the formation of harmful oxygen radicals and protects the animals significantly better from increased oxidative stress.

In the next step, the researchers repeated the tests with worms whose genetic material had been specifically altered in certain places. This has eliminated the function of special proteins that are central to aging. If the genes for the formation of the proteins DAF-16 or Sir-2.1 were defective, the positive effects of the root extract were also significantly lower. By the way, longer lifetimes could only be observed if all proteins were functioning properly. This confirms that aging is a complex process that depends on many factors.

The study provides evidence on the interventions of herbal ingredients into basic mechanisms and signaling pathways of aging that can serve as a basis for further research. However, the findings can not be transferred directly to humans. Whether the effects observed in C. elegans can also be detected in other living things, should be clarified in subsequent studies. Source: Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg