Cytoprotective effect on oxidative stress and inhibitory effect on cellular aging of Terminalia chebula fruit

The ethanol extract from the fruit of Terminalia chebula (Combretaceae) exhibited significant inhibitory activity on oxidative stress and the age‐dependent shortening of the telomeric DNA length. In the peroxidation model using t‐BuOOH, the T. chebula extract showed a notable cytoprotective effect on the HEK‐N/F cells with 60.5 ± 3.8% at a concentration of 50 µg/ml. In addition, the T. chebula extract exhibited a significant cytoprotective effect against UVB‐induced oxidative damage. The life‐span of the HEK‐N/F cells was elongated by 40% as a result of the continuous administration of 3 µg/ml of the T. chebula extract compared to that of the control. These observations were attributed to the inhibitory effect of the T. chebula extract on the age‐dependent shortening of the telomere, length as shown by the Southern blots of the terminal restriction fragments (TRFs) of DNA extracted from subculture passages. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.