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First demonstrated the anti-aging effect of Eucommia and revealed the gut-brain axis mechanism of Eucommia polysaccharides.

Story

Zhao Shanting is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Deputy Director of the Eucommia Research Institute, a member of Shaanxi Province's 'Hundred Talents Program', and a former senior researcher at the University of Freiburg, Germany. He is a developmental neurobiologist who cross-disciplinarily introduced modern neurobiological approaches into Eucommia research. Using a Drosophila lifespan model, he was the first to demonstrate the anti-aging, life-extending effect of Eucommia polysaccharides and elucidated the mechanism from the perspective of the gut microbiota-brain axis, providing a modern scientific footnote to the Shennong Bencao Jing record that long-term use of Eucommia 'lightens the body and resists aging'.

His team has made successive advances in Eucommia-based prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and stroke: revealing that Eucommia polysaccharides alleviate learning and memory impairment in AD mice by promoting the proliferation of butyrate-producing bacteria and regulating glutamine metabolism; and finding that aqueous Eucommia extract reduces cerebral ischemic injury by inhibiting the TLR4/p38 MAPK/NF-kB pathway. These findings lay a theoretical foundation for developing Eucommia into functional foods and neuroprotective drugs.

Milestones

• In May 2023, the team's anti-aging findings on Eucommia, published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, received media coverage
• In May 2025, delivered the talk 'Research on the efficacy of Eucommia and its application in the big health industry' at the Eucommia Industry Development Seminar in Guigang, Guangxi
• As Deputy Director of the Eucommia Research Institute of Northwest A&F University, promotes the development of Eucommia big-health products

Key Contributions

• First demonstrated the marked anti-aging effect of Eucommia: 4% Eucommia polysaccharide extended the lifespan of Drosophila by about 20%
• Revealed in the Journal of Advanced Research that Eucommia polysaccharides ameliorate cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease by remodeling the gut microbiota
• Found that Eucommia extract alleviates neurological damage from cerebral ischemia-reperfusion by inhibiting microglial inflammation
• Led the project 'Study on the preventive and therapeutic effects of Eucommia on Alzheimer's disease' funded by the Japan Eucommia Research Association (1 million yen)
• Participated in the Ministry of Science and Technology key international science and technology cooperation project 'Key technology R&D for high-value utilization of Eucommia leaf-forest resources' (3 million yuan)