Protective effects of carnosic acid against aging in a premature cellular senescence model and in a D-galactose induced mouse model / 药学学报

This study aimed to investigate the effect and possible mechanism of carnosic acid (CA) on delaying aging. The effects of CA on senescence-related β-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal) activity and expressions of p53, p21 and p16 were evaluated by an oxidative challenge induced premature 2BS cell senescence model. Meanwhile, the animal experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Hospital. Male C57 BL/6J mice were injected with 100 mg·kg-1·d-1 D-galactose (D-gal) for 8 weeks to establish an aging model in vivo, and CA at 5 and 10 mg·kg-1·d-1 were given ig administration at the same time. Morris water maze test was used to test the spatial memory ability. Then the serum and tissue samples were collected for the detections of malondialdehyde (MDA), total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) as well as the protein expression of p53, p21 and p16 in hippocampus of brain. The results showed that H2O2 induced increment of SA-β-Gal activity (95%) was prevented by CA treatment (35%) and the enhanced protein expressions of p53, p21 and p16 in H2O2 exposed 2BS cells were alleviated by CA treatment, suggesting a potent protective role of CA against premature senescence induced by oxidative challenge. For in vivo study, D-gal induced declined spatial memory ability was partly reversed by CA administration. Besides, the serum and cerebral levels of MDA, IL-6, TNFα and AGEs were attenuated by CA treatment when compared to those in model mice. And the protein expressions of p53, p21 and p16 in mice hippocampus were suppressed by CA in D-gal treated mice. Taken together, our results showed that CA protects premature senescence induced by oxidative stress and D-gal, which is related to its antioxidative, antiinflammatory roles and inhibition on non-enzymatic glycosylation.

Additive Benefits of Twice Forest Bathing Trips in Elderly Patients with Chronic Heart Failure / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Chronic heart failure (CHF), a clinical syndrome resulting from the consequences of various cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), is increasingly becoming a global cause of morbidity and mortality. We had earlier demonstrated that a 4-day forest bathing trip can provide an adjunctive therapeutic influence on patients with CHF. To further investigate the duration of the impact and the optimal frequency of forest bathing trips in patients with CHF, we recruited those subjects who had experienced the first forest bathing trip again after 4 weeks and randomly categorized them into two groups, namely, the urban control group (city) and the forest bathing group (forest). After a second 4-day forest bathing trip, we observed a steady decline in the brain natriuretic peptide levels, a biomarker of heart failure, and an attenuated inflammatory response as well as oxidative stress. Thus, this exploratory study demonstrated the additive benefits of twice forest bathing trips in elderly patients with CHF, which could further pave the way for analyzing the effects of such interventions in CVDs.

The miRNA microarray analysis of salidroside's anti-aging function in human embryonic lung fibroblast 2BS cells / 药学学报

This study was designed to investigate the microRNA expression profile in human embryonic lung fibroblast 2BS cells upon salidroside (SAL) treatment, and predict the target genes of miRNAs and related pathways delaying cellular senescence. Samples were divided into three groups: young control (28 PD), old control (50 PD), and old+SAL (50 PD with SAL), RNA from three groups was used for miRNA microarray analysis. In late PD cells, 43 miRNAs were found significantly changed relatively to those in young cells, and 58 miRNAs were regulated by SAL. The miRNAs including hsa-let-7c, hsa-let-7e and hsa-mir-3620 were significantly down-regulated in late PD cells which could be reversed by SAL treatment. However, hsa-mir-411, hsa-mir-24-2-5p and hsa-mir-485-3p exhibited an opposite trend. Gene Ontology and Pathway analysis revealed that target genes were significantly enriched in 31 GO and 11 pathways. The microarray data was further validated with qRT-PCR. This research provides new clues regarding the underlying mechanisms of SAL on cellular senescence through miRNAs regulation.

Health Effect of Forest Bathing Trip on Elderly Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

Forest bathing trip is a short, leisurely visit to forest. In this study we determined the health effects of forest bathing trip on elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The patients were randomly divided into two groups. One group was sent to forest, and the other was sent to an urban area as control. Flow cytometry, ELISA, and profile of mood states (POMS) evaluation were performed. In the forest group, we found a significant decrease of perforin and granzyme B expressions, accompanied by decreased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stress hormones. Meanwhile, the scores in the negative subscales of POMS decreased after forest bathing trip. These results indicate that forest bathing trip has health effect on elderly COPD patients by reducing inflammation and stress level.

Effects of short-term forest bathing on human health in a broad-leaved evergreen forest in Zhejiang Province, China / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effects of short-term forest bathing on human health.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty healthy male university students participated as subjects and were randomly divided into two groups of 10. One group was sent on a two-night trip to a broad-leaved evergreen forest, and the other was sent to a city area. Serum cytokine levels reflecting inflammatory and stress response, indicators reflecting oxidative stress, the distribution of leukocyte subsets, and plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentrations were measured before and after the experiment to evaluate the positive health effects of forest environments. A profile of mood states (POMS) evaluation was used to assess changes in mood states.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>No significant differences in the baseline values of the indicators were observed between the two groups before the experiment. Subjects exposed to the forest environment showed reduced oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory level, as evidenced by decreased malondialdehyde, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor a levels compared with the urban group. Serum cortisol levels were also lower than in the urban group. Notably, the concentration of plasma ET-1 was much lower in subjects exposed to the forest environment. The POMS evaluation showed that after exposure to the forest environment, subjects had lower scores in the negative subscales, and the score for vigor was increased.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Forest bathing is beneficial to human health, perhaps through preventive effects related to several pathological factors.</p>

Protective role of salidroside against aging in a mouse model induced by D-galactose / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the protective effects of putative AGEs (advanced glycation endproducts) inhibitor salidroside against aging in an accelerated mouse aging model induced by D-galactose.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A group of 5-month-old C57BL/6J mice were treated daily with D-galactose, D-galactose combined with salidroside, salidroside alone, and control buffer for 8 weeks. At the end of the treatment, serum AGEs levels, neurological activities, expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) in the cerebral cortex, as well as lymphocyte proliferation and IL-2 production were determined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>D-galactose induced mouse aging model was developed as described before. As expected, salidroside blocked D-galactose induced increase of serum AGEs levels. It also reversed D-galactose induced aging effects in neural and immune system, as evidenced by improving motor activity, increasing memory latency time, and enhancing lymphocyte mitogenesis and interleukin-2 (IL-2) production. Furthermore, elevated expression of GFAP and NT-3 in the aged model mice was also reduced upon salidroside treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Salidroside inhibits AGEs formation in vivo, which at least partially contributes to its anti-aging effect in D-galactose induced aging model.</p>