Herb-Derived Products: Natural Tools to Delay and Counteract Stem Cell Senescence

Table 1

Herb-derived products with an antisenescence role on animal senescent cells.

Herb name	Studied cells	Animal source	Treatment dose	Time exposure	Senescence inducers (dose of exposure)	Treatment (pre-, post-, and coinducer)	Effects on recovered cells	Effects on animals or cells in animals after treatment	Ref. number
Acorus tatarinowii	Hippocampus-resident NPCs after animal treatment; NPCs recovered by the hippocampus	C57BL/6 mice (8-month-old AD and 18-23-month-old mice); C57BL/6 mice (6- to 8-weeks old)	100 μL/day (animals); 1 mg/mL (cells)	28 days (animals); 24 hours (cells)	Absent	/	Enhanced cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner; unaffected NPC lineage commitment	Enhanced neurogenesis and retarded deficits of NPC proliferation both in aged and in AD model mice	[123]
Elaeocarpus sylvestris	Spleen-resident HSCs after animal treatment	C57BL/6 mice (8–11 months old)	25 mg/kg/day (animals)	Unknown	X-ray (1.5 Gy/min)	Pre-, post-, and cotreatment	/	Enhanced mouse survival; recovered spleen size; inhibited immune suppression; enhanced cell regeneration and proliferation in the spleen	[88]
Fuzhisan	Brain-resident NPCs after animal treatment	SAMP-8 mice	Up to 4.8 g/kg/day (animals)	30 days (animals)	Absent	/		Stimulated neurogenesis in SGZ and SVZ; increased proliferation of NPCs in the SGZ; increased long-term survival of newborn cells in hippocampal DG; stimulated neuronal differentiation in DG	[124]
Ginkgo biloba	NSCs recovered by cochlea	Early postnatal BALB/c mice	50 mg/L (cells)	12-24-36 hours (cells)	H2O2 (0.25 μM)	Cotreatment	Promoted cell viability; attenuated oxidative stress; prevented mitochondrial depolarization and apoptosis; enhanced the spontaneous calcium oscillations in NSC-differentiated neural networks	/	[140]
Ginkgo biloba	Hippocampus-resident NSCs after animal treatment	Mice (24 months old)	100 mg/kg/day (animals)	28 days (animals)	Absent	/	/	Decreased number of apoptotic cells in the hippocampal DG; increased number of SC pool and cell proliferation in the SGZ of the hippocampal DG; increased cell differentiation and maturation of newborn neurons and neuroblasts in the hippocampus	[138]
HuangDiSan	Exogenous NSCs transplanted in the hippocampus after 15 days of animal treatment	SAMP8 mice	0.2 mL/day (animals)	30 days, with a day off (animals)	Absent	/	/	Improved learning, memory impairment, and behavioral function; promoted proliferation, migration, and differentiation of transplanted NSCs; improved synaptophysin mRNA and protein levels in the hippocampus	[110]
NT-020	Hippocampus-resident NSCs after animal treatment	Fischer rats (20 months old)	135 mg/kg/day (animals)	4 weeks (animals)	Absent	/	/	Improved cognitive function with optimization of spatial memory performance; increased proliferation and neurogenesis in SGZ of the hippocampal DG; decreased MHC class II-expressing cells	[122]
PMC-12	Hippocampus-resident NPCs after animal treatment	C57BL/6 mice (5 weeks old)	100 or 500 mg/kg/day (animals)	2 weeks (animals)	Absent	/	/	Reduced latency times; increased cell proliferation; increased survival of newly generated cells in the DG; increased levels of BDNF, p-CREB, and synaptophysin associated with neural plasticity and hippocampal neurogenesis	[112]
Rehmannia glutinosa	HSCs recovered from animal after treatment	C57BL/6J mice (10 months old)	200 mg/day (animals)	10 months (animals)	Absent	/	Decreased cell numbers; increased cell proliferation capacity; maintained cell quiescence with upregulation of p18; decreased number of SA-β-Gal+cells; decreased ROS levels with downregulation of p53 and p16	Maintained body weight; increased animal lifespan	[103]
Siraitia grosuenorii	HSCs recovered from animal after treatment	C57BL/6J mice (10 months old)	200 mg/day (animals)	10 months (animals)	Absent	/	Increased telomere length; increased cell proliferation capacity; maintained cell quiescence; decreased number of SA-β-Gal+cells; decreased ROS levels with downregulation of p21, p53, and p16	Decreased senescence; increased slightly the body mass; slightly increased animal lifespan	[102]
Yokukansan	Brain-resident NSCs after animal treatment	Rats (21 months old)	Concentration of 3% () with food pellets (animals)	3 months (animals)	Absent	/	/	Decreased the age-related increase in aggrecan expression throughout the prefrontal cortex and in the hippocampus; increased cell proliferation in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus; increased migration of NSCs/NPCs	[132]

Herb-derived products are shown in alphabetical order. AD: Alzheimer’s disease; BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; DG: dentate gyrus; HSCs: hematopoietic stem cells; MHC: major histocompatibility complex; NPCs: neural progenitor cells; NSCs: neural stem cells; p16: cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A, multiple tumor suppressor 1; p18: cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2C; p21: cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A; p53: tumor protein p53; p-CREB: cAMP response element-binding protein; PMC-12: Polygonum Multiflorum Thunberg Complex Composition-12; ROS: reactive oxygen species; SA-β-Gal: senescence-associated β-galactosidase; SAMP-8: senescence-accelerated mouse-prone 8; SCs: stem cells; SGZ: subgranular zone; SVZ: subventricular zone.