Gastrodin is an active ingredient of the orchid plant Gastrodia elata Blume that is considered medicinal foods with bioactivity and nutritional value. Many studies have reported that gastrodin has antioxidative...

Historical literature and pharmacological studies demonstrate that Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) has anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects. Studies into the longevity effects of APS are limited, and the molecular mechanism of lifespan extension by APS is not elucidated yet. Here, the longevity effect of APS was investigated in Drosophila melanogaster by feeding dose-dependent APS. APS significantly extended the lifespan and improved the reproduction. Meanwhile, APS increased locomotion, TAG level, and starvation resistance and reduced the mortality rate induced by hydrogen peroxide. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were increased in flies treated with APS diet. Moreover, APS significantly enhanced expressions of antioxidant genes (Sod1, Sod2, and Cat), dFoxO, and 4E − BP, decreased the expressions of insulin-like peptides (dilp2, dilp3, and dilp5), and longevity gene MTH. Together, these results indicate that APS can prolong the lifespan by regulating antioxidant ability and insulin/IGF-1 signaling and also enhance the reproduction ability in Drosophila. APS may be explored as a novel agent for slowing the aging process and improving reproduction.

Gut homeostasis is important for human health, and its disruption can lead to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Flos Puerariae is a herb with a wide variety of pharmacological activities including antioxidant, antidiabetic, antialcoholismic and anti-inflammatory properties. However, the role of Flos Puerariae on treating IBD remains obscure. Here, we employed Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to investigate the protective effect of Flos Puerariae extract (FPE) against sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-induced intestinal injury. Our data showed that FPE had no toxic effect in flies, and significantly extended lifespan in SDS-inflamed flies, reduced stem cell proliferation in the midgut, and maintained intestinal morphological integrity. Furthermore, FPE remarkably recused the altered expression level of genes and proteins in Nrf2/Keap1 signaling, JAK-STAT signaling and Wnt signaling pathways in gut of inflammation flies. Thus, FPE has a protective effect against intestinal injury possibly via increasing the Nrf2/keap1 pathway and suppressing the JAK-STAT and Wnt signaling pathways, which would have tremendous potential for treating IBD.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic and relapsing intestinal inflammation, which currently lacks safe and effective medicines. Astragalus membranaceus (AM), also named Huangqi, is one of the most commonly used fundamental herbs in China. Here, we aimed to investigate mechanism and bioactive compounds of AM on treating sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)- induced colitis in Drosophila flies. Our data showed that AM extract (AME) supplementation had no toxic effect in flies, and protected flies against SDS-induced lifespan shortening, intestinal morphological damage, and colon length shortening. Moreover, AME supplementation remarkably rescued SDS-induced intestinal stem cell (ISC) overproliferation and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in the intestine. Mechanistically, AME remarkably rescued the altered expression levels of genes and proteins in c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and JAK-STAT signaling pathways induced by SDS in gut. Additionally, formononetin, isoliquiritigenin, isorhamnetin, astragaloside I, astragaloside III, vanillic acid, and caffeic acid in AM had protection against SDS-induced inflammatory damage in flies. Taken together, AME could ameliorate the intestinal inflammation partially by suppressing oxidative stress-associated JNK signaling and JAK-STAT signaling pathways. AME may provide a theoretical basis for natural medicine toward treating intestinal inflammatory disease in human.

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