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Artemisia annua increases resistance to heat and oxidative stresses, but has no effect on lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

It is suggested that oxidative stress induced by cellular reactive oxygen species is one of the major causal factors of aging. The effect of dietary supplementation of anti-oxidants on response to environmental stressors and lifespan has been studied in various model organisms. In the present study, we examine the effect of Artemisia annua extract on resistance to oxidative, heat, and ultraviolet stresses in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Artemisia annua significantly increases survival under oxidative and heat stresses, however has no effects in response to ultraviolet stress. Then, we measured the in vivo changes in expression of stress-responsive genes by Artemisia annua using green fluorescence protein. The expression of hsp-16.2, known to be involved in response to heat stress, is significantly increased by Artemisia annua supplementation. An anti-oxidant gene, sod-3, was also up-regulated by Artemisia annua. However, both mean and maximum lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans was not altered by dietary supplementation of Artemisia annua. These findings indicate that Artemisia annua confers health-promoting effects through increasing the resistance to environmental stressors and has no effect on lifespan in C. elegans. Our study suggests that Artemisia annua can be used for the development of novel natural therapeutics for diseases caused by environmental stressors.

Keywords:
Artemisia annua; oxidative stress; heat stress; lifespan; C. elegans

1 Introduction

The free radical theory of aging suggests that the age-dependent accumulation of oxidative damage induced by free radicals is the main cause of normal aging (Harman, 1956Harman, D. (1956). Aging: a theory based on free radical and radiation chemistry. Journal of Gerontology, 11(3), 298-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronj/11.3.298. PMid:13332224.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronj/11.3.29...
). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced as a byproduct of normal cellular metabolism and main free radicals in cells. To prevent ROS-induced oxidative damage, cells have evolved anti-oxidant defense systems. Cellular anti-oxidant defense systems are composed of enzymatic and non-enzymatic defense systems. Enzymatic defense systems utilize cellular anti-oxidant enzymes, including catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, and so on, to transform hyperactive ROS into stable compounds (Sohal et al., 1995Sohal, R. S., Agarwal, A., Agarwal, S., & Orr, W. C. (1995). Simultaneous overexpression of copper- and zinc-containing superoxide dismutase and catalase retards age-related oxidative damage and increases metabolic potential in Drosophila melanogaster. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 270(26), 15671-15674. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.270.26.15671. PMid:7797567.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.270.26.156...
; Wei & Lee, 2002Wei, Y. H., & Lee, H. C. (2002). Oxidative stress, mitochondrial DNA mutation, and impairment of antioxidant enzymes in aging. Experimental Biology and Medicine, 227(9), 671-682. PMid:12324649.). In addition, cellular anti-oxidants scavenge cellular ROS non-enzymatically (Miquel, 2001Miquel, J. (2001). Nutrition and ageing. Public Health Nutrition, 4(6A), 1385-1388. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/PHN2001224. PMid:11918486.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/PHN2001224...
). However, ROS that escape anti-oxidant defense systems can cause oxidative damage in cellular macromolecules, such as DNA, proteins, and lipids. The accumulation of oxidative damage is positively associated with an organism’s chronological age and known to be involved with the incidence of many age-related diseases (Sohal & Weindruch, 1996Sohal, R. S., & Weindruch, R. (1996). Oxidative stress, caloric restriction, and aging. Science, 273(5271), 59-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.273.5271.59. PMid:8658196.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.273.52...
).

Studies have shown that the genetic or nutritional interventions modulating cellular anti-oxidant defense systems can affect the health, as well as lifespan of many experimental organisms. In Drosophila melanogaster, transgenic animals overexpressing both SOD and CAT have increased resistance to oxidative stress and lifespan (Orr & Sohal, 1992Orr, W. C., & Sohal, R. S. (1992). The effects of catalase gene overexpression on life span and resistance to oxidative stress in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 297(1), 35-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0003-9861(92)90637-C. PMid:1379030.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0003-9861(92)9...
). Induction of the Cu/Zn SOD transgene expression also confers longevity phenotype in Drosophila melanogaster (Sun & Tower, 1999Sun, J., & Tower, J. (1999). FLP recombinase-mediated induction of Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase transgene expression can extend the life span of adult Drosophila melanogaster flies. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 19(1), 216-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/MCB.19.1.216. PMid:9858546.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/MCB.19.1.216...
). In mice, overexpression of CAT induces increased resistance to hydrogen peroxide (Chen et al., 2004Chen, X., Liang, H., Van Remmen, H., Vijg, J., & Richardson, A. (2004). Catalase transgenic mice: characterization and sensitivity to oxidative stress. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 422(2), 197-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2003.12.023. PMid:14759608.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2003.12....
). In contrast, heterozygote knockout of SOD2 leads to increased oxidative damage and premature induction of apoptosis in mice (Kokoszka et al., 2001Kokoszka, J. E., Coskun, P., Esposito, L. A., & Wallace, D. C. (2001). Increased mitochondrial oxidative stress in the Sod2 (+/-) mouse results in the age-related decline of mitochondrial function culminating in increased apoptosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98(5), 2278-2283. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.051627098. PMid:11226230.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.051627098...
). Supplementation with anti-oxidants also modulates the response to oxidative stress and lifespan in model organisms. Supplementation of N-acetyl-L-cysteine confers increased resistance to various environmental stressors and longevity phenotype in C. elegans (Oh et al., 2015Oh, S. I., Park, J. K., & Park, S. K. (2015). Lifespan extension and increased resistance to environmental stressors by N-acetyl-L-cysteine in Caenorhabditis elegans. Clinics, 70(5), 380-386. http://dx.doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(05)13. PMid:26039957.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(0...
). Interestingly, worms grown in media prepared with electrolyzed reduced water, known to have a strong anti-oxidant activity, have increased resistance to oxidative stress and extended lifespan (Park et al., 2012Park, S. K., Kim, J. J., Yu, A. R., Lee, M. Y., & Park, S. K. (2012). Electrolyzed-reduced water confers increased resistance to environmental stresses. Molecular and Cellular Toxicology, 8(3), 241-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13273-012-0029-1.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13273-012-002...
; Park & Park, 2013Park, S. K., & Park, S. K. (2013). Electrolyzed-reduced water increases resistance to oxidative stress, fertility, and lifespan via insulin/IGF-1-like signal in C. elegans. Biological Research, 46(2), 147-152. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-97602013000200005. PMid:23959012.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-97602013...
). Treatment with vitamin E prevents age-related decline of cognitive function and improves mitochondrial function, but fails to extend lifespan in mammals (Fukui et al., 2002Fukui, K., Omoi, N. O., Hayasaka, T., Shinnkai, T., Suzuki, S., Abe, K., & Urano, S. (2002). Cognitive impairment of rats caused by oxidative stress and aging, and its prevention by vitamin E. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 959(1), 275-284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2002.tb02099.x. PMid:11976202.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.20...
; Lipman et al., 1998Lipman, R. D., Bronson, R. T., Wu, D., Smith, D. E., Prior, R., Cao, G., Han, S. N., Martin, K. R., Meydani, S. N., & Meydani, M. (1998). Disease incidence and longevity are unaltered by dietary antioxidant supplementation initiated during middle age in C57BL/6 mice. Mechanisms of Ageing and Development, 103(3), 269-284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0047-6374(98)00048-7. PMid:9723903.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0047-6374(98)...
; Navarro et al., 2005Navarro, A., Gomez, C., Sanchez-Pino, M. J., Gonzalez, H., Bandez, M. J., Boveris, A. D., & Boveris, A. (2005). Vitamin E at high doses improves survival, neurological performance, and brain mitochondrial function in aging male mice. American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 289(5), R1392-R1399. http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00834.2004. PMid:16020519.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00834....
). Therefore, the effects of anti-oxidants on response to stressors and lifespan seems to depend on the in vivo activity of each anti-oxidant.

Artemisia annua (A. annua) is an annual plant used as a therapeutic medicine for various diseases in Korea. The most well-known bio-activity of A. annua is anti-malaria activity (Song et al., 2016Song, Y., Desta, K. T., Kim, G. S., Lee, S. J., Lee, W. S., Kim, Y. H., Jin, J. S., Abd El-Aty, A. M., Shin, H. C., Shim, J. H., & Shin, S. C. (2016). Polyphenolic profile and antioxidant effects of various parts of Artemisia annua L. Biomedical Chromatography, 30(4), 588-595. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bmc.3587. PMid:26285146.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bmc.3587...
). In addition, A. annua also has anti-imflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-obesity activities (Ho et al., 2014Ho, W. E., Peh, H. Y., Chan, T. K., & Wong, W. S. (2014). Artemisinins: pharmacological actions beyond anti-malarial. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 142(1), 126-139. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2013.12.001. PMid:24316259.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2...
). It is suggested that the polyphenol components of A. annua are responsible for those pharmacological activities. Since polyphenols are strong anti-oxidants, a number of studies focus on revealing of health-promoting activities of plant polyphenols. In the present study, we examine the effects of dietary supplementation of A. annua on health and lifespan using C. elegans as a model system. Response to environmental stressors, including heat stress, ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, and oxidative stress, was monitored in vivo. The effects of A. annua on the expression of stress-responsive genes was determined using green fluorescent protein (GFP). Then, we measured the effects of A. annua on the lifespan of C. elegans.

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Worm strains and culture

The wild-type N2 CGCb strain and two GFP-expressing strains, CL2070 (dvIs70 [Phsp-16.2::GFP, rol-6]) and CF1553 (muIs84 [Psod-3::GFP, rol-6]), were purchased from the C. elegans Genetics Center (CGC, Minneapolis, USA). The worms were maintained on nematode growth media (NGM) plates, which contains 25 mM NaCl, 1.7% agar, 2.5 mg/mL peptone, 5μg/mL cholesterol, 1mM CaCl2, 1mM MgSO4, and 50 mM KH2PO4 (pH6.0), at 20 °C. Escherichia coli OP50 was added to each NGM plate as a food source.

2.2 Preparation of A. annua extract

40 g of A. annua were extracted using hot water extraction with 1.8 L of distilled water at 80 °C for 30 min. Cooled extract were then filtered through a 185 mm-filter paper (Advantec, Tokyo, Japan). The second filtering was performed using a 0.2 μm bottle-top filter (Nalgene Rapid-Flow Bottle Top Filter, Thermo Scientific, Waltham, USA). A. annua extract were aliquoted and stored at 4 °C.

2.3 Thermotolerance

Five L4/young adult worms were transferred to a fresh NGM plate and permitted to lay eggs for 5 h. After removing the five adult worms, the eggs were maintained at 20 °C for 3 days. Sixty age-synchronized worms were transferred to a fresh NGM plate containing 100 μL of different concentrations of A. annua (0, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100% of extract) in 5 mL NGM. 5-fluoro-2’-deoxyuridine (12.5 mg/L; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, USA) was also added to prevent internal hatching. After 24 h, the worms were exposed to heat stress for 10 h by transferring plates to a 35 °C incubator. Then, the worms were transferred back to 20 °C. Survival rates after heat stress were monitored 24 h after.

2.4 Response to UV irradiation

Sixty age-synchronized worms were cultured in NGM plates containing different concentrations of A. annua for 24 h, as previously mentioned. Then, the plates were incubated in a 254 nm-UV crosslinker (BLX-254, VILBER Lourmat Co., Torcy, France) for 1 min at 20 J/cm2/min. After UV irradiation, the plates were transferred back to the 20 °C incubator. Alive and dead worms were scored every day until all worms were dead.

2.5 Resistance to oxidative stress

Age-synchronized young adults worms were treated with A. annua extract in NGM containing 5-fluoro-2’-deoxyruridine for 24 h. Then, the worms were exposed to 2mM hydrogen peroxide in S-basal without cholesterol (5.85 g sodium chloride, 1 g potassium phosphate dibasic, and 6 g potassium phosphate monobasic in 1 L sterilized distilled-water). The number of dead nematodes was scored after 6 h of exposure to hydrogen peroxide.

2.6 GFP expression of stress-responsive genes

Age-synchronized CL2070 and CF 1553 worms were placed in NGM plates supplemented with A. annua extract at 20 °C for 9 days. Then, the worms were mounted on a slide glass coated with 2% agarose and anaesthetized with 1M sodium azide. After covering the slide with a coverslip, expression of each reporter gene was observed using a confocal microscope (Olympus FV10i, Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). Fluorescence intensity of a randomly selected single worm was quantified with a fluorescence multi-reader (Infinite F200, Tecan, Grodig, Austria).

2.7 Lifespan assay

Sixty age-synchronized 3-day-old worms were transferred to fresh NGM plates containing A. annua extract and 5-fluoro-2’-deoxyruridine. Thereafter, worms were transferred to fresh NGM plates with A. annua extract and 5-fluoro-2’-deoxyruridine every other day. The number of living and dead worms was recorded every day.

2.8 Statistical analysis

We employed the log-rank test to analyze the lifespan data. The log-rank test is a non-parametric Mantel-Cox test widely used to compare two time-course survival curves (Peto & Peto, 1972Peto, R., & Peto, J. (1972). Asymptotically efficient rank invarient test procedures. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: General, 135(2), 185-207. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2344317.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2344317...
). Statistical significance in the other experiments was assessed with the standard two-tailed Student’s t-test. A p-value lower than 0.05 was regarded as significant.

3 Results and discussion

3.1 Effect of A. annua on response to heat shock and UV irradiation

Most common environmental stressors encountered during the life cycle includes heat shock and UV irradiation. To reveal the effects of A. annua on response to environmental stressors, we examined the survival of worms after heat stress or UV irradiation. Supplementation of A. annua extract extended the survival after heat shock. In the wild-type control group, 73.3 ± 1.92% (mean of three independent experiments ± SEM) of worms survived after 10 h of 35 °C heat shock. The mean percent survival of worms pre-treated with 100% A. annua extract significantly increased (81.1 ± 1.47%, p = 0.032). However, the dilution of A. annua extract failed to show a significant effect on thermotolerance in C. elegans (Figure 1). We also measured the change in resistance to UV irradiation with different concentrations of A. annua extract. Unlike the increased survival after heat shock, A. annua extract did not affect to resistance to UV irradiation at any concentration of A. annua extract (Figure 2). Independent replicative experiments also showed no effects on survival after UV irradiation (Table 1). Previous findings show that supplementation of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus extract exhibits an increased resistance to heat stress and UV irradiation in C. elegans (Park et al., 2014Park, J. K., Kim, C. K., Gong, S. K., Yu, A. R., Lee, M. Y., & Park, S. K. (2014). Acanthopanax sessiliflorus stem confers increased resistance to environmental stresses and lifespan extension in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nutrition Research and Practice, 8(5), 526-532. http://dx.doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2014.8.5.526. PMid:25324932.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2014.8.5.5...
). N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a sulfur-containing cysteine derivative with an acetyl group attached to the nitrogen of cysteine, has anti-oxidant and anti-cancer activity (Cai et al., 1999Cai, T., Fassina, G., Morini, M., Aluigi, M. G., Masiello, L., Fontanini, G., D’Agostini, F., De Flora, S., Noonan, D. M., & Albini, A. (1999). N-acetylcysteine inhibits endothelial cell invasion and angiogenesis. Laboratory Investigation, 79(9), 1151-1159. PMid:10496534.; Yedjou & Tchounwou, 2007Yedjou, C. G., & Tchounwou, P. B. (2007). N-acetyl-l-cysteine affords protection against lead-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress in human liver carcinoma (HepG2) cells. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 4(2), 132-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph2007040007. PMid:17617676.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20070400...
). Survival of worms after heat shock or UV irradiation significantly increases by pre-treatment with 5 mM N-acetyl-L-cysteine (Oh et al., 2015Oh, S. I., Park, J. K., & Park, S. K. (2015). Lifespan extension and increased resistance to environmental stressors by N-acetyl-L-cysteine in Caenorhabditis elegans. Clinics, 70(5), 380-386. http://dx.doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(05)13. PMid:26039957.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(0...
). Our data showed that A. annua can specifically modulate the response to heat stress, however has no effect on resistance to UV irradiation. Further studies identifying cellular components regulated by A. annua supplementation will reveal the underlying mechanisms involved in in vivo activities of A. annua.

Figure 1
The effects of different concentrations of A. annua extract on thermotolerance in C. elegans. Pre-treatment of 100% A. annua extract significantly increased resistance to heat stress. Values are the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments (n = 60). * Indicates a significant difference from the control (p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Time-course survival of worms after UV irradiation. In all experimental groups supplemented with different concentrations of A. annua extract, there is no significant difference in survival after UV irradiation compared to the untreated wild-type control.
Table 1
Effects of A. annua extract on response to UV irradiation and the lifespan in C. elegans.

3.2 Increased resistance to oxidative stress by A. annua

Environmental and cellular oxidative stress cause detrimental damage to DNA, protein, and lipid molecules and lead to the functional decline of damaged cells and aging of tissues (Martin et al., 1996Martin, G. M., Austad, S. N., & Johnson, T. E. (1996). Genetic analysis of ageing: role of oxidative damage and environmental stresses. Nature Genetics, 13(1), 25-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng0596-25. PMid:8673100.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng0596-25...
). We next explored whether the supplementation of A. annua affects the oxidative-stress response in C. elegans. Having observed increased resistance to heat stress with 100% A. annua extract, we compared the survival under oxidative-stress conditions between the untreated wild-type control group and worms pre-treated with 100% A. annua extract. After 6h of hydrogen peroxide treatment, 16.7 ± 2.36% (mean of three independent experiments ± SEM) of worms survived. Supplementation of A. annua extract increased the survival under the same oxidative-stress conditions up to 32.5 ± 3.70% (p = 0.011) (Figure 3). These findings demonstrate the anti-oxidant activity of A. annua in vivo for the first time. Anti-oxidant activity of natural compounds have been reported in various studies and suggest that it may be a possible therapeutic agent for many diseases, in which oxidative stress is a major causal factor. Resveratrol, a polyphenol compound found in red wine, has strong anti-oxidant activity and is effective in protecting against cancer, atherosclerosis, and neurodegeneration (Ferguson, 2001Ferguson, L. R. (2001). Role of plant polyphenols in genomic stability. Mutation Research, 475(1-2), 89-111. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0027-5107(01)00073-2. PMid:11295156.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0027-5107(01)...
; Jang et al., 1997Jang, M., Cai, L., Udeani, G. O., Slowing, K. V., Thomas, C. F., Beecher, C. W., Fong, H. H., Farnsworth, N. R., Kinghorn, A. D., Mehta, R. G., Moon, R. C., & Pezzuto, J. M. (1997). Cancer chemopreventive activity of resveratrol, a natural product derived from grapes. Science, 275(5297), 218-220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.275.5297.218. PMid:8985016.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.275.52...
). Curcumin is a major ingredient in yellow curry and has an anti-oxidant activity (Martin-Aragon et al., 1997Martin-Aragon, S., Benedi, J. M., & Villar, A. M. (1997). Modifications on antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation in mice under fraxetin treatment. Journal of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, 49(1), 49-52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-7158.1997.tb06751.x. PMid:9120770.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-7158.19...
). Curcumin has been used as a traditional medicine in India for the treatment of cancer and gastrointestinal diseases (Kitani et al., 2004Kitani, K., Yokozawa, T., & Osawa, T. (2004). Interventions in aging and age-associated pathologies by means of nutritional approaches. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1019(1), 424-426. http://dx.doi.org/10.1196/annals.1297.075. PMid:15247057.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1196/annals.1297.07...
). Supplementation of Acanthopanax assiliflorus extract confers increased resistance to oxidative stress in C. elegans (Park et al., 2014Park, J. K., Kim, C. K., Gong, S. K., Yu, A. R., Lee, M. Y., & Park, S. K. (2014). Acanthopanax sessiliflorus stem confers increased resistance to environmental stresses and lifespan extension in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nutrition Research and Practice, 8(5), 526-532. http://dx.doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2014.8.5.526. PMid:25324932.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2014.8.5.5...
). Acanthopanax assiliflorus is a native plant grown in Korea, Japan, and China and is used in diabetes, tumor, and rheumatoid arthritis treatment (Fujikawa et al., 1996Fujikawa, T., Yamaguchi, A., Morita, I., Takeda, H., & Nishibe, S. (1996). Protective effects of Acanthopanax senticosus Harms from Hokkaido and its components on gastric ulcer in restrained cold water stressed rats. Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 19(9), 1227-1230. http://dx.doi.org/10.1248/bpb.19.1227. PMid:8889047.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1248/bpb.19.1227...
). Taken together, our findings indicate that A. annua can work as a strong anti-oxidant in vivo and suggest that it may be used to develop novel natural therapeutics for diseases generated by oxidative stress.

Figure 3
Increased resistance to oxidative stress by A. annua extract in C. elegans. Values are the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments (n = 60). * Indicates a significant difference from the control (p < 0.05).

3.3 Induction of stress-responsive genes by A. annua

Based on our data showing increased resistance to heat and oxidative stress by A. annua extract, we monitored the expression level alteration of heat-shock-responsive and anti-oxidant genes caused by A. annua extract supplementation. The expression level of hsp-16.2 is positively correlated with increased resistance to heat-shock stress and lifespan in C. elegans (Rea et al., 2005Rea, S. L., Wu, D., Cypser, J. R., Vaupel, J. W., & Johnson, T. E. (2005). A stress-sensitive reporter predicts longevity in isogenic populations of Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature Genetics, 37(8), 894-898. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1608. PMid:16041374.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1608...
). We observed a significant up-regulation of hsp-16.2 in worms treated with 100% A. annua extract (Figure 4a). The relative expression of hsp-16.2 increased to 138.9 ± 13.94% in A. annua-treated worms, compared to the untreated wild-type control (100.0 ± 7.30%) (Figure 4b). sod-3 is an anti-oxidant gene involved in the cellular enzymatic defense system against reactive oxygen species (Sánchez-Blanco & Kim, 2011Sánchez-Blanco, A., & Kim, S. K. (2011). Variable pathogenicity determines individual lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLOS Genetics, 7(4), e1002047. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002047. PMid:21533182.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1...
). As expected from increased resistance to oxidative stress, the expression of sod-3 was induced by A. annua extract (Figure 4b). There was about 1.89 fold increase in expression of sod-3 in worms treated with 100% A. annua extract, compared to the untreated worms (p < 0.001) (Figure 4b). A recent study shows that dietary supplementation of N-acetyl-L-cysteine results in extended survival time under heat- and oxidative-stress conditions, as well as reduced susceptibility to stresses that accompany the up-regulation of stress-responsive genes (Oh et al., 2015Oh, S. I., Park, J. K., & Park, S. K. (2015). Lifespan extension and increased resistance to environmental stressors by N-acetyl-L-cysteine in Caenorhabditis elegans. Clinics, 70(5), 380-386. http://dx.doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(05)13. PMid:26039957.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6061/clinics/2015(0...
). Gene expression data obtained here support our hypothesis that supplementation of A. annua extract confers increased resistance to heat and oxidative stress in vivo and suggests that the underlying mechanisms may be involved with the induction of stress-responsive genes, including heat shock proteins and anti-oxidant genes.

Figure 4
The change in expression of stress-responsive genes by A. annua extract. (a) Total GFP fluorescence of each whole worm was compared between the control and A. annua-treated worms for hsp-16.2 and sod-3 genes; (b) GFP fluorescence intensity was quantified with a fluorescence multi-reader (n=20). Values are the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. * Indicates a significant difference from the control (p < 0.05).

3.4 Effect of A. annua on lifespan of C. elegans

Free radical theory of aging suggests that oxidative stress caused by free radicals is one of major factors leading to aging (Harman, 1956Harman, D. (1956). Aging: a theory based on free radical and radiation chemistry. Journal of Gerontology, 11(3), 298-300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronj/11.3.298. PMid:13332224.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronj/11.3.29...
). Having observed increased resistance to oxidative stress by A. annua extract, we examined the effect of A. annua supplementation on lifespan in C. elegans. As shown in Figure 5, there is no significant difference in both mean and maximum lifespan between the wild-type control and A. annua-treated worms. The mean lifespan in the wild-type control group and worms supplemented with 100% A. annua extract was 15.8 and 15.3 days, respectively (p = 0.336). Independent repeated experiments also failed to show significant effects of A. annua on lifespan (Table 1). The effects of genetic or nutritional interventions modulating cellular anti-oxidant defense systems on lifespan remains controversial. In Drosophila melanogaster, the neuronal expression of human SOD-1 extends lifespan (Parkes et al., 1998Parkes, T. L., Elia, A. J., Dickinson, D., Hilliker, A. J., Phillips, J. P., & Boulianne, G. L. (1998). Extension of Drosophila lifespan by overexpression of human SOD1 in motorneurons. Nature Genetics, 19(2), 171-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/534. PMid:9620775.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/534...
). Simultaneous over-expression of Cu/Zn SOD and CAT increases lifespan in short-lived strains, but not in long-lived strains (Orr et al., 2003Orr, W. C., Mockett, R. J., Benes, J. J., & Sohal, R. S. (2003). Effects of overexpression of copper-zinc and manganese superoxide dismutases, catalase, and thioredoxin reductase genes on longevity in Drosophila melanogaster. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 278(29), 26418-26422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M303095200. PMid:12743125.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M303095200...
; Orr & Sohal, 1992Orr, W. C., & Sohal, R. S. (1992). The effects of catalase gene overexpression on life span and resistance to oxidative stress in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 297(1), 35-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0003-9861(92)90637-C. PMid:1379030.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0003-9861(92)9...
). Over-expression of anti-oxidant genes, including SOD and CAT, does not induce a longevity phenotype in mice (Chen et al., 2004Chen, X., Liang, H., Van Remmen, H., Vijg, J., & Richardson, A. (2004). Catalase transgenic mice: characterization and sensitivity to oxidative stress. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 422(2), 197-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2003.12.023. PMid:14759608.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.abb.2003.12....
). Supplementation of Acanthopanax sessiliflorus extract increases resistance to oxidative stress and extends lifespan in C. elegans (Park et al., 2014Park, J. K., Kim, C. K., Gong, S. K., Yu, A. R., Lee, M. Y., & Park, S. K. (2014). Acanthopanax sessiliflorus stem confers increased resistance to environmental stresses and lifespan extension in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nutrition Research and Practice, 8(5), 526-532. http://dx.doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2014.8.5.526. PMid:25324932.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4162/nrp.2014.8.5.5...
). Anti-oxidant polyphenols extracted from green tea also show lifespan-extending effects in mice (Kitani et al., 2004Kitani, K., Yokozawa, T., & Osawa, T. (2004). Interventions in aging and age-associated pathologies by means of nutritional approaches. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1019(1), 424-426. http://dx.doi.org/10.1196/annals.1297.075. PMid:15247057.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1196/annals.1297.07...
). However, dietary intervention with strong anti-oxidants, such as coenzyme Q10 and α-lipoic acid, fails to increase lifespan, although it reduces tumor incidence (Lee et al., 2004Lee, C. K., Pugh, T. D., Klopp, R. G., Edwards, J., Allison, D. B., Weindruch, R., & Prolla, T. A. (2004). The impact of alpha-lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10 and caloric restriction on life span and gene expression patterns in mice. Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 36(8), 1043-1057. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2004.01.015. PMid:15059645.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiome...
).

Figure 5
The effect of A. annua extract on the lifespan of C. elegans. Both mean and maximum lifespan were unaffected by supplementation with A. annua extract.

4 Conclusions

In this study, we showed for the first time that A. annua extract confers increased resistance to environmental stressors, including heat and oxidative stress, however not to UV irradiation. Dietary supplementation modulates the expression of the stress-responsive genes, hsp-16.2 and sod-3, which seem to be the underlying mechanisms of increased resistance to stress. However, anti-oxidant activity of A. annua extract did not induce a longevity phenotype. Further studies should focus on the identification of individual active compounds responsible for response to each environmental stresses and possible biological pathways regulated by the supplementation of A. annua extract. In addition, the biological data for the effect on diseases other than malaria are necessary for the extension of the therapeutic applications of A. annua.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Soonchunhyang University Research Fund and the Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (PJ01104602) of the Rural Development Administration, Korea.

  • Practical Application: This study shows Artemisia annua has an anti-stress activity and induces stress-responsive genes in vivo. These results provide scientific backgrounds necessary for the extension of the therapeutic applications of A. annua.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    31 May 2016
  • Date of issue
    Apr-Jun 2016

History

  • Received
    04 Jan 2016
  • Accepted
    05 May 2016
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