Stress Buffering and Longevity Effects of Amber Extract on Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans)

Abstract

Amber is a fossilized tree resin historically used in wound healing and stress relief. Unfortunately, there is no concrete scientific evidence supporting such efficacy. Here, the stress buffering and longevity effect of Amber extract (AE) in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) was investigated. Survival assays, health span assays, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), Stress biomarker detection assays, Green Fluorescence Proteins (GFP), Real Time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and C. elegans mutants were employed to investigate the stress buffering and longevity effect of AE. In the study, it was observed that AE supplementation improved health span and survival in both normal and stressed worms. Additionally, AE positively regulated stress hormones (cortisol, oxytocin, and dopamine) and decreased fat and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Through the Insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway, AE enhanced the nuclear localization of DAF-16 and the expression of heat shock proteins and antioxidant genes in GFP-tagged worms and at messenger RNA levels. Finally, AE failed to increase the survival of daf-16, daf-2, skn-1 and hsf-1 loss-of-function mutants, confirming the involvement of the IIS pathway. Evidently, AE supplementation relieves stress and enhances longevity. Thus, amber may be a potent nutraceutical for stress relief.

Behavioral and Biochemical Evaluation of Anti-Depressive and Oxidative Stress-Ameliorating Effects of Amber Extract in Adult Male ICR Mice

“…When mice were subjected to psychological stress through TST, an increased accumulation of the lipid-peroxidation product MDA was observed because of oxidative damage, which was significantly reduced by amber supplementation. These findings confirmed the antioxidant effect of amber observed in our previous study on Caenorhabditis elegans, in which amber treatment significantly protected worms from H 2 O 2induced oxidative stress and increased the expression of the antioxidant genes sod-3, gst-4, and ctl-1 [11].…”

“…However, there are no reports on its antidepressant effect. We previously demonstrated that amber might exhibit an anti-stress effect through the regulation of HPA hyperactivity [11]. Thus, we hypothesized that amber possesses an antidepressant effect via the regulation of hormones in the HPA axis and factors contributing to oxidative stress.…”

“…Amber, a terpenoid-containing resin from the pine tree, has been reported to possess several biological activities, such as anti-stress [11], anti-Alzheimer's or neuroprotective [12], anti-inflammatory [13], and lipid-lowering [14] effects. It contains agathic acid, which is known to exert an antibacterial effect [15].…”

L-theanine Prolongs the Lifespan by Activating Multiple Molecular Pathways in UVC Exposed <em>C. elegans</em>

“…It is widely used as one of the first-choice model organisms to study aging, stress resistance, mitochondrial biology, and apoptosis at the molecular level [13,14], mainly due to the short life span for approximately 15-21 days, as well as its completely sequencing and annotation of all the genes [15], the abundance of mutant strains [16]. The most important fact that results of trials on C. elegans can be predictive of outcomes in higher organisms [17]. There is little difference of mitochondrial biologybetween C. elegans and humans [14].…”

L-Theanine Prolongs the Lifespan by Activating Multiple Molecular Pathways in Ultraviolet C-Exposed Caenorhabditis elegans

“…This is primarily attributed to its short lifespan of approximately 15–21 days, its comprehensive sequencing and annotation of all genes [ 15 ], and the availability of numerous mutant strains [ 16 ]. Importantly, findings from studies conducted on C. elegans have been shown to have predictive value for outcomes in higher organisms [ 17 ]. Furthermore, there is minimal disparity in mitochondrial biology between C. elegans and humans [ 14 ].…”