A collaboration between the Valencian company Bionos Biotech, the Medical Research Institute Hospital La Fe (IIS-La Fe) and the Prince Felipe Research Center (CIPF) has used fish as a platform to validate antioxidant and anti-aging extracts for its later use in humans.
The study, which has been published in the journal Rejuvenation Research, demonstrates the ability of a plant extract to protect against oxidative stress induced and to increase life expectancy in medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) embryos and adults, validating the use of the model as a platform of screening more cheaply and rapidly than through the use of big mammals.
It is widely known that oxidative stress can induce cellular apoptosis and thus play an essential role in the aging process. In the last decades, the use of antioxidant compounds has acquired great relevance, both at the food and cosmetic level, as a result of the different investigations where it is shown that the antioxidant compounds protect the tissues from oxidative stress and contribute to a style of healthier life.
In this sense, the results of this research demonstrate that treatment with a plant extract enriched in polyphenols protects against oxidant effects and counteracts changes in gene expression induced by oxidative stress, increasing superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and extending life expectancy in adult individuals.
Through this joint research between a private company and two Valencian public institutions, the antioxidant and anti-aging power of the vegetable extract has been demonstrated with positive effects on the life expectancy of the medaka fish. From the same, these results validate the use of the model, at adult and embryonic level, as a screening platform for the cosmetic and food industry.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28982278