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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Taurine may be a key to longer and healthier life    
      
     Date:   
         June 8, 2023   
     Source:   
         Columbia University Irving Medical Center   
     Summary:   
         A study finds that deficiency of taurine, a molecule produced   
         in our bodies, drives aging, and taurine supplements can improve   
         health and increase lifespan in animals.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   A deficiency of taurine -- a nutrient produced in the body and found in   
   many foods -- is a driver of aging in animals, according to a new study   
   led by Columbia researchers and involving dozens of aging researchers   
   around the world.   
      
   The same study also found that taurine supplements can slow down the   
   aging process in worms, mice, and monkeys and can even extend the healthy   
   lifespans of middle-aged mice by up to 12%.   
      
   The study was published June 8 in Science.   
      
   "For the last 25 years, scientists have been trying to find factors that   
   not only let us live longer, but also increase healthspan, the time we   
   remain healthy in our old age," says the study's leader, Vijay Yadav,   
   PhD, assistant professor of genetics & development at Columbia University   
   Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.   
      
   "This study suggests that taurine could be an elixir of life within us   
   that helps us live longer and healthier lives."  Anti-aging molecules   
   within us Over the past two decades, efforts to identify interventions   
   that improve health in old age have intensified as people are living   
   longer and scientists have learned that the aging process can be   
   manipulated.   
      
   Many studies have found that various molecules carried through the   
   bloodstream are associated with aging. Less certain is whether these   
   molecules actively direct the aging process or are just passengers going   
   along for the ride. If a molecule is a driver of aging, then restoring   
   its youthful levels would delay aging and increase healthspan, the years   
   we spend in good health.   
      
   Taurine first came into Yadav's view during his previous research into   
   osteoporosis that uncovered taurine's role in building bone. Around the   
   same time, other researchers were finding that taurine levels correlated   
   with immune function, obesity, and nervous system functions.   
      
   "We realized that if taurine is regulating all these processes that   
   decline with age, maybe taurine levels in the bloodstream affect overall   
   health and lifespan," Yadav says.   
      
   Taurine declines with age, supplementation increases lifespan in mice   
   First, Yadav's team looked at levels of taurine in the bloodstream of   
   mice, monkeys, and people and found that the taurine abundance decreases   
   substantially with age. In people, taurine levels in 60-year-old   
   individuals were only about one-third of those found in 5-year-olds.   
      
   "That's when we started to ask if taurine deficiency is a driver of the   
   aging process, and we set up a large experiment with mice," Yadav says.   
      
   The researchers started with close to 250 14-month-old female and male   
   mice (about 45 years old in people terms). Every day, the researcher   
   fed half of them a bolus of taurine or a control solution. At the end   
   of the experiment, Yadav and his team found that taurine increased   
   average lifespan by 12% in female mice and 10% in males. For the mice,   
   that meant three to four extra months, equivalent to about seven or   
   eight human years.   
      
   Taurine supplements in middle age improves health in old age To learn   
   how taurine impacted health, Yadav brought in other aging researchers   
   who investigated the effect of taurine supplementation on the health   
   and lifespan in several species.   
      
   These experts measured various health parameters in mice and found that   
   at age 2 (60 in human years), animals supplemented with taurine for one   
   year were healthier in almost every way than their untreated counterparts.   
      
   The researchers found that taurine suppressed age-associated weight gain   
   in female mice (even in "menopausal" mice), increased energy expenditure,   
   increased bone mass, improved muscle endurance and strength, reduced   
   depression-like and anxious behaviors, reduced insulin resistance,   
   and promoted a younger-looking immune system, among other benefits.   
      
   "Not only did we find that the animals lived longer, we also found that   
   they're living healthier lives," Yadav says.   
      
   At a cellular level, taurine improved many functions that usually decline   
   with age: The supplement decreased the number of "zombie cells" (old   
   cells that should die but instead linger and release harmful substances),   
   increased survival after telomerase deficiency, increased the number of   
   stem cells present in some tissues (which can help tissues heal after   
   injury), improved the performance of mitochondria, reduced DNA damage,   
   and improved the cells' ability to sense nutrients.   
      
   Similar health effects of taurine supplements were seen in middle-aged   
   rhesus monkeys, which were given daily taurine supplements for six   
   months. Taurine prevented weight gain, reduced fasting blood glucose and   
   markers of liver damage, increased bone density in the spine and legs,   
   and improved the health of their immune systems.   
      
   Randomized clinical trial needed The researchers do not know yet if   
   taurine supplements will improve health or increase longevity in humans,   
   but two experiments they conducted suggest taurine has potential.   
      
   In the first, Yadav and his team looked at the relationship between   
   taurine levels and approximately 50 health parameters in 12,000 European   
   adults aged 60 and over. Overall, people with higher taurine levels   
   were healthier, with fewer cases of type 2 diabetes, lower obesity   
   levels, reduced hypertension, and lower levels of inflammation. "These   
   are associations, which do not establish causation," Yadav says, "but   
   the results are consistent with the possibility that taurine deficiency   
   contributes to human aging."  The second study tested if taurine levels   
   would respond to an intervention known to improve health: exercise. The   
   researchers measured taurine levels before and after a variety of male   
   athletes and sedentary individuals finished a strenuous cycling workout   
   and found a significant increase in taurine among all groups of athletes   
   (sprinters, endurance runners, and natural bodybuilders) and sedentary   
   individuals.   
      
   "No matter the individual, all had increased taurine levels after   
   exercise, which suggests that some of the health benefits of exercise   
   may come from an increase in taurine," Yadav says.   
      
   Only a randomized clinical trial in people will determine if taurine   
   truly has health benefits, Yadav adds. Taurine trials are currently   
   underway for obesity, but none are designed to measure a wide range of   
   health parameters.   
      
   Other potential anti-aging drugs -- including metformin, rapamycin,   
   and NAD analogs -- are being considered for testing in clinical trials.   
      
   "I think taurine should also be considered," Yadav says. "And it has   
   some advantages: Taurine is naturally produced in our bodies, it can be   
   obtained naturally in the diet, it has no known toxic effects (although   
   it's rarely used in concentrations used ), and it can be boosted by   
   exercise.   
      
   "Taurine abundance goes down with age, so restoring taurine to a youthful   
   level in old age may be a promising anti-aging strategy."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Health_&_Medicine   
                   # Healthy_Aging # Fitness # Medical_Topics # Teen_Health   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Mice # Soil_Types # Rodents # Genetically_Modified   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Calorie_restricted_diet o Health_science o Agronomy o   
             Ketone_bodies o Epidemiology o General_fitness_training o   
             Antioxidant o Iodine   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   Columbia_University_Irving_Medical_Center. Note: Content may be edited   
   for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Parminder Singh, Kishore Gollapalli, Stefano Mangiola, Daniela   
      Schranner,   
         Mohd Aslam Yusuf, Manish Chamoli, Sting L. Shi, Bruno Lopes   
         Bastos, Tripti Nair, Annett Riermeier, Elena M. Vayndorf, Judy   
         Z. Wu, Aishwarya Nilakhe, Christina Q. Nguyen, Michael Muir,   
         Michael G. Kiflezghi, Anna Foulger, Alex Junker, Jack Devine,   
         Kunal Sharan, Shankar J. Chinta, Swati Rajput, Anand Rane, Philipp   
         Baumert, Martin Scho"nfelder, Francescopaolo Iavarone, Giorgia   
         di Lorenzo, Swati Kumari, Alka Gupta, Rajesh Sarkar, Costerwell   
         Khyriem, Amanpreet S. Chawla, Ankur Sharma, Nazan Sarper, Naibedya   
         Chattopadhyay, Bichitra K. Biswal, Carmine Settembre, Perumal   
         Nagarajan, Kimara L. Targoff, Martin Picard, Sarika Gupta, Vidya   
         Velagapudi, Anthony T. Papenfuss, Alaattin Kaya, Miguel Godinho   
         Ferreira, Brian K. Kennedy, Julie K. Andersen, Gordon J. Lithgow,   
         Abdullah Mahmood Ali, Arnab Mukhopadhyay, Aarno Palotie, Gabi   
         Kastenmu"ller, Matt Kaeberlein, Henning Wackerhage, Bhupinder Pal,   
         Vijay K. Yadav. Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging. Science,   
         2023; 380 (6649) DOI: 10.1126/ science.abn9257   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608195654.htm   
      
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