Aging is a process characterized by accumulating degenerative damages, resulting in the death of an organism ultimately. The main goal of aging research is to develop therapies that delay age-related diseases in human. Since signaling pathways in aging of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), fruit flies and mice are evolutionarily conserved, compounds extending lifespan of them by intervening pathways of aging may be useful in treating age-related diseases in human. Natural products have special resource advantage and with few side effect. Recently, many compounds or extracts from natural products slowing aging and extending lifespan have been reported. Here we summarized these compounds or extracts and their mechanisms in increasing longevity of C. elegans or other species, and the prospect in developing antiaging medicine from natural products.

Three new lycodine-type Lycopodium alkaloids, namely 1-methyllycodine (1), 8α-hydroxy-15,16-dehydro-des-N-methyl-α-obscurine (2), N-methyl-16-hydroxyhuperzine B (3), and one new natural lycodine-type Lycopodium alkaloid, N-methylhuperzine A (4), along with 11 known analogues (5-15), were isolated from the whole plants of club moss Huperzia serrata. The structures of 1-4 were elucidated on the basis of NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometry data. Among them, compound 1 was the first lycodine-type alkaloid possessing a methyl group at C-1. In addition, the structure of 5 was confirmed by the single-crystal X-ray crystallography data and its ¹³C NMR was reported for the first time in current study. Compounds 1-5 were tested their BACE1 inhibitory activity.

Uncaria rhynchophylla is commonly recognized as a traditional treatment for dizziness, cerebrovascular diseases, and nervous disorders in China. Previously, the neuro-protective activities of the alkaloids from U. rhynchophylla were intensively reported. In current work, three new indole alkaloids (1-3), identified as geissoschizic acid (1), geissoschizic acid N₄-oxide (2), and 3β-sitsirikine N₄-oxide (3), as well as 26 known analogues were isolated from U. rhynchophylla. However, in the neural stem cells (NSCs) proliferation assay for all isolated compounds, geissoschizic acid (1), geissoschizic acid N₄-oxide (2), isocorynoxeine (6), isorhynchophylline (7), (4S)-akuammigine N-oxide (8), and (4S)-rhynchophylline N-oxide (10) showed unexpected inhibitory activities at 10μM. Unlike previous neuro-protective reports, as a warning or caution, our finding showcased a clue for possible NSCs toxicity and the neural lesions risk of U. rhynchophylla, while the structure-activity relationships of the isolated compounds were discussed also.