Administration with Bushenkangshuai Tang alleviates UV irradiation- and oxidative stress-induced lifespan defects in nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

During normal metabolism,oxidative bypro-ducts will inevitably generate and damage molecules thereby impairing their biological functions,including the aging process.Bushenkangshuai Tang(补肾抗衰方,BT)is a traditional Chinese medicine widely used for clini-cally treating premature ovarian failure.In the present study,BT administration at high concentrations signifi-cantly increased lifespan,slowed aging-related decline,and delayed accumulation of aging-related cellular damage in wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans.BT admin-istration could further largely alleviate the aging defects induced by UV and oxidative stresses,and BT administra-tion at different concentrations could largely rescue the aging defects in mev-1 mutant animals.The protective effects of BT administration on aging process were at least partially dependent on the Ins/IGF-like signaling pathway.Moreover,BT administration at different concentrations obviously altered the expression patterns of antioxidant genes and suppressed the severe stress responses induced by UV and oxidative stresses,suggesting that BT-induced tolerance to UV or oxidative stress might result from reactive oxygen species scavenging.BT administration during development was not necessarily a requirement for UV and oxidative stress resistance,and the concentrations of administrated BT examined were not toxic for nematodes.Therefore,BT administration could effectively retrieve the aging defects induced by UV irradiation and oxidative stress in Caenorhabditis elegans.