Panax notoginseng polysaccharide increases stress resistance and extends lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans

Panax notoginseng is Traditional Chinese medicine and also a China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) approved food additive. In present study, we used Caenorhabditis elegans model to illustrate stress resistance and lifespan extension effect of a polysaccharide fraction form P. notoginseng (MRP5). Our data showed that MRP5 could significantly increase survival rate and markedly decreased ROS level of C. elegans under oxidative stress . Moreover, MRP5 could reduce the level of carbonyl protein and malondialdehyde of BA17 strain and extend lifespan of wild-type worms. The mechanism study revealed that MRP5 was able to promote the nuclear localization of DAF-16 resulting in the activation of antioxidant enzymatic systems. We also observed that MRP5 increased lifespan of daf-16 loss-of function mutant, suggesting MRP5-prolonged lifespan partially required daf-16 gene. Overall, our results illustrated the potential utilization of MRP5 as a functional food ingredient to delay aging.