随着老年人口比例的快速增长,中药的延缓衰老作用正在研究中。本研究的目的是研究藏红花对自然衰老小鼠的延缓衰老作用。使用高效液相色谱(HPLC)测定藏红花水性提取物中的活性成分。将小鼠分为藏红花(8和16月龄)和对照组(3-,8-,和16个月大),前一组给予藏红花提取物8周。空场试验和巴恩斯迷宫试验用于评估运动活动,小鼠的学习和记忆功能。ELISA法测定脑内炎症因子水平。此外,乙酰胆碱酯酶(AChE)和超氧化物歧化酶的活性,酶免疫法检测丙二醛和烟酰胺腺嘌呤二核苷酸(NAD+)的含量,ELISA法检测NAMPT的含量,蛋白质印迹和逆转录定量PCR。通过免疫荧光评估NAMPT的细胞分布和突触密度,和肝脏的病理形态,皮肤,通过苏木精和伊红染色观察肾脏。HPLC显示藏红花提取物中的藏红花素和黄红花素含量分别为19.56±0.14和12.00±0.13%,分别。藏红花表现出改善衰老小鼠学习和记忆功能的潜力,因为它增加了突触密度并降低了AChE活性。此外,藏红花改善了与器官老化相关的病理变化,表现为增加肝细胞的数量和皮肤的厚度,并防止衰老引起的肾脏膨胀和出血。此外,藏红花增加了脑中NAMPT和NAD+的含量,降低了血清中NAMPT的含量。此外,它改变了NAMPT在衰老小鼠中的细胞分布,表现为小胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞中NAMPT表达减少,和神经元中NAMPT表达增加。藏红花还能降低衰老小鼠促炎细胞因子和氧化应激因子的含量。总之,这些发现表明藏红花对自然衰老的小鼠具有延缓衰老的作用,这可能与NAMPT-NAD+途径有关。
As the proportion of the elderly population grows rapidly, the senescence-delaying effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine is being investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the senescence-delaying effects of
saffron in naturally aging mice. The active ingredients in an aqueous saffron extract were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Mice were divided into
saffron (8- and 16-months-old) and control groups (3-, 8-, and 16-months-old), and
saffron extract was administered to the former groups for 8 weeks. The open field test and Barnes maze test were used to evaluate the locomotor activity, learning and memory function of the mice. The levels of inflammatory factors in the brain were determined by ELISA. In addition, the activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and superoxide dismutase, and the contents of malondialdehyde and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) were detected by enzyme immunoassay, and the content of NAMPT was detected by ELISA, western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. The cellular distribution of NAMPT and synaptic density were evaluated by immunofluorescence, and the pathological morphologies of the liver, skin, kidneys were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. HPLC revealed that the crocin and picrocrocin contents of the
saffron extract were 19.56±0.14 and 12.00±0.13%, respectively. Saffron exhibited the potential to improve the learning and memory function in aging mice as it increased synaptic density and decreased AChE activity. Also, saffron ameliorated the pathological changes associated with organ aging, manifested by increasing the number of hepatocytes and the thickness of the skin, and preventing the aging-induced ballooning and bleeding in the kidneys. Furthermore,
saffron increased the contents of NAMPT and NAD+ in the brain and decreased the content of NAMPT in the serum. In addition, it changed the cellular distribution of NAMPT in aging mice, manifested as reduced NAMPT expression in microglia and astrocytes, and increased NAMPT expression in neurons. Saffron also decreased the contents of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress factors in aging mice. Altogether, these findings indicate that saffron exerts senescence-delaying effects in naturally aging mice, which may be associated with the NAMPT-NAD+ pathway.