Parishin treatment alleviates cardiac aging in naturally aged mice.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac aging progressively decreases physiological function and drives chronic/degenerative aging-related heart diseases. Therefore, it is crucial to postpone the aging process of heart and create products that combat aging.

AIMS & METHODS: The objective of this study is to examine the effects of parishin, a phenolic glucoside isolated from traditional Chinese medicine Gastrodia elata , on anti-aging and its underlying mechanism. To assess the senescent biomarkers, cardiac function, cardiac weight/body weight ratio, cardiac transcriptomic changes, and cardiac histopathological features, heart tissue samples were obtained from young mice (12 weeks), aged mice (19 months) treated with parishin, and aged mice that were not treated.

RESULTS: Parishin treatment improved cardiac function, ameliorated aging-induced cardiac injury, hypertrophy, and fibrosis, decreased cardiac senescence biomarkers p16Ink4a , p21Cip1 , and IL-6, and increased the "longevity factor" SIRT1 expression in heart tissue. Furthermore, the transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that parishin treatment alleviated the cardiac aging-related Gja1 downregulation and Cyp2e1, Ccna2, Cdca3, and Fgf12 upregulation in the heart tissues. The correlation analysis suggested a strong connection between the anti-aging effect of parishin and its regulation of gut microbiota and metabolism in the aged intestine.

CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates the protective role and underlying mechanism of parishin against cardiac aging in naturally aged mice.