Emerging evidence suggests that aging is associated with the deterioration of immunity, a term known as immunosenescence, which may lead to a higher incidence of infections in the elderly population. Our previous studies reported that supplementation of royal jelly (RJ) extended the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a nematode model. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential benefits of RJ supplementation on modulation of the innate immunity in C. elegans. Using Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus; ATCC 25923) as the infection model, we showed that RJ supplementation from the egg hatching stage could protect C. elegans against the infection. Further mechanistic studies demonstrated that RJ coordinated pathways of IIS/DAF-16, p38 MAPK, and Wnt to modulate the innate immunity. In addition, when RJ was administrated to the aged C. elegans, the worms displayed prolonged survival time to a variety of bacterial infections compared with the nontreatment group. This result indicates the RJ may help delay the innate immunosenescence.
Keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; Staphylococcus aureus; aging; innate immunity; royal jelly.