Thakkar Nidhi, Gajera Gemini, Mehta Dilip, Nair Sujit, Kothari Vijay
Institute of Science, Nirma University, Ahmedabad - India.
Contributed equally.
Drug Target Insights. 2025 Apr 2;19:18-30. doi: 10.33393/dti.2025.3368. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.
is among the most widely prescribed medicinal plants in traditional Indian medicine. Hydroalcoholic extract of the roots of this plant was investigated for its effects on the overall health and lifespan of the model worm .
The extract's effect on worm lifespan and fertility was observed microscopically. Worm motility was quantified through an automated worm tracker. The metabolic activity of the worms was captured using the Alamar Blue® assay. Differential gene expression in extract-treated worms was revealed through a whole transcriptome approach.
Extract-exposed gnotobiotic worms, in the absence of any bacterial food, registered longer lifespan, higher fertility, better motility, and metabolic activity. Whole transcriptome analysis of the extract-treated worms revealed the differential expression of the genes associated with lifespan extension, eggshell assembly and integrity, progeny formation, yolk lipoproteins, collagen synthesis, cuticle molting, etc. This extract seems to exert its beneficial effect on partly by triggering the remodeling of the developmentally programmed apical extracellular matrix (aECM). Differential expression of certain important genes (, and ) was confirmed through PCR assay too. Some of the differently expressed genes ( and ) in worms experiencing pro-health effect of the extract were found through co-occurrence analysis to have their homologous counterpart in humans.
Our results validate the suitability of extract as a nutraceutical for healthy aging.
在传统印度医学中,是最广泛使用的药用植物之一。对该植物根部的水醇提取物进行了研究,观察其对模式蠕虫整体健康和寿命的影响。
通过显微镜观察提取物对蠕虫寿命和繁殖力的影响。使用自动蠕虫追踪器对蠕虫的运动能力进行量化。使用阿拉玛蓝(Alamar Blue®)检测法测定蠕虫的代谢活性。通过全转录组方法揭示提取物处理过的蠕虫中的差异基因表达。
在没有任何细菌食物的情况下,暴露于提取物的无菌蠕虫寿命更长、繁殖力更高、运动能力和代谢活性更好。对提取物处理过的蠕虫进行全转录组分析,发现与寿命延长、卵壳组装和完整性、后代形成、卵黄脂蛋白、胶原蛋白合成、表皮蜕皮等相关的基因存在差异表达。该提取物似乎部分通过触发发育编程的顶端细胞外基质(aECM)的重塑来发挥其有益作用。通过PCR检测也证实了某些重要基因(、和)的差异表达。通过共现分析发现,在经历提取物促健康作用的蠕虫中一些差异表达的基因(和)在人类中有同源对应物。
我们的结果证实提取物作为一种促进健康衰老的营养保健品的适用性。