The Anti-Aging Effects of Pine Pollen
Paper Title: Experimental Study On the Anti-Aging Effects of Pine Pollen. Lixin Zhao (2004). Modern Medical Journal.
The purpose of this research is to evaluate the anti-aging effects of Pine Pollen. After mice were fed with animal feeds containing Pine Pollen for 30 days, the activities of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Per) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the brain were analysed. Furthermore, levels of lipofuscin (Lf) in the brain and liver were assessed, the weight of the thymus gland and spleen was taken, and the immune-macrophage function was detected.
Results show that Pine Pollen obviously increases the activities of serum SOD, CAT and GSH-Per, and it decreases the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the brain and lipofuscin (Lf) in the brain and liver. In addition, Pine Pollensignificantly increased the weight of the thymus gland and the spleen and increased the immune-macrophage function. The above results further show the anti-aging effects of Pine Pollen.
Impact of Pine Pollen on Serum SOD, CAT, GSH-Per Active in Mice (n=10, x̄±s) |
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| Group | SOD / (mU*l-1) | CAT/ (u*ml-1) | GSH-Per/(u*ml-1) |
| Young Control Group | 39.68 ± 4.87 | 8.2 ± 2.0 | 240.6 ± 29.4 |
| Aging Control Group | 15.27 ± 3.11 | 4,4 +1.7 | 134.7 ± 21.7 |
| Pine Pollen (2% Fed Group) | 37.98 ±5.38 | 7.6 ±1.8 | 228.4 ± 24.6 |
| Pine Pollen (5% Fed Group) | 44.35 ± 6.08 | 8.0 ± 2.7 | 3.5% |
Impact of Pine Pollen on Mice Brain and Liver Content of MDA and Lf (n=10, x̄±s) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Group | Brain Tissue | Liver Tissue | |
| MDA / (nmol*g) | Lf / (μg) | Lf / (μg) | |
| Young Control Group | 2.47 ± 0.55 | 2.61 ± 0.61 | 9.57 ± 1.74 |
| Aging Control Group | 3.24 ± 0.62 | 4.24 ± 0.87 | 16.87 ± 2.90 |
| Pine Pollen (2% Fed Group) | 2.08 ± 0.40 | 2.91 ± 0.68 | 11.26 ±1.69 |
| Pine Pollen (5% Fed Group) | 1.67 ± 0.38 | 2.57 ± 0.53 | 8.40 ± 1.32 |
Impact of Pine Pollen on Immune Organ Mass (n=10, x̄±s) |
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| Group | Thymus (mg/100mg) | Spleen (mg/100mg) |
| Young Control Group | 26.54 ± 6.34 | 59.61 ± 11.94 |
| Aging Control Group | 17.86 ± 3.61 | 40.82 ±7.54 |
| Pine Pollen (2% Fed Group) | 24.06 ± 4.97 | 61.22 ± 12.67 |
| Pine Pollen (5% Fed Group) | 30.91 ± 5.77 | 72.16 ±13.76 |
Impact of Pine Pollen on Reticuloendothelial System (n=10, x̄±s) |
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| Group | Phagocytic Index | Phagocytic Activity |
| Young Control Group | 0.0346 ± 0.0147 | 8.9617 ± 2.7643 |
| Aging Control Group | 0.0162 ± 0.0087 | 5.2496 ±1.3465 |
| Pine Pollen (2% Fed Group) | 0.0429 ± 0.0210 | 10.5429 ± 1.8612 |
| Pine Pollen (5% Fed Group) | 0.0573 ± 0.0255 | 13.6487 ± 2.7436 |
The mechanism and reasons of aging in the human body are not thoroughly understood, but one of the prominent theories is the Free Radical Theory of Aging. This theory suggests that free radicals produced by normal body metabolism each day can be eliminated in normal situations but that the antioxidant activity of the body’s natural antioxidant substances like CAT, SOD, and GSH-Per decreases with age.
The decrease in the body’s own production of antioxidants is combined with an overall increased rate of the free radical metabolite MDA. MDA then converts into inactive Lf with phosphatidyl ethanolamine and protein in the human body, accumulating in tissues and cells, reducing the RNA, damaging the cell structure and resulting in aging cell death because cells can no longer mitigate their own metabolism and the free radicals that normal cell metabolism produces.
Therefore, improvement of the activity of antioxidants and prevention of damage from free radicals have a positive effect on delaying aging in the human body.
Pharmacological experiments have proven that Pine Pollen contains various anti-oxidant substances, as mentioned previously, including vitamin E, beta-carotene, and the microelement selenium, all of which could inhibit the oxidizing reaction of fat and protein in the body and produce an anti-aging effect in the body. After consumption of Pine Pollen, it can promote the activity, count, and the capacity to clear free radicals. At the same time, Pine Pollen can clear age-related pigment accumulated on the skin, brain, heart, liver, and other organs; inhibit aging processes; and improve immunocompetence.
Pine Pollen can greatly improve the T-cell changes of D-galactose aging in mice models, enhancing the immunity and prolonging the life time of aging mice.
This experiment shows that Pine Pollen increases the activities of serum SOD, CAT, and GSH-Per, which means that Pine Pollen can improve the antioxidant ability of the body, eliminating the free radicals produced in the process of aging and increasing the weight of immune organs, thus demonstrating an obvious anti-aging effect.
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