Taurine deficiency may be a driver for aging, according to a new study, which evaluated the amino acid’s effect on health and longevity across several animal models. According to the authors, reversing age-associated taurine loss via supplementation improved the healthy lifespan in worms, rodents, and non-human primates – findings that warrant further human trials to examine taurine’s effect on healthy lifespan in humans and the potential risks involved.
Taurine – a semi-essential micronutrient – is one of the most abundant amino acids in animals. Previous studies in several species have shown that taurine deficiency during early life causes functional impairments in skeletal muscle, eyes, and the nervous system in ways that are related to aging-associated disorders.
Small clinical trials of taurine supplementation have suggested benefits in metabolic and inflammatory diseases, but the influence of taurine concentrations on animal health and longevity remains poorly understood.
To better understand if and how taurine abundance influences healthy life span, the researchers measured blood taurine concentrations at different ages in mice, monkeys, and humans. They. discovered that in 15-year-old monkeys, serum taurine concentrations were 85% lower than in 5-year-old monkeys. Similarly, taurine levels decreased by more than 80% over the human life span.
Declining taurine levels were also observed in aging mice and the authors found that mice lacking the major taurine transporter had shorter adult life spans. Reversal of this decline through taurine supplementation increased the median lifespan of worms and mice by 10 to 23% and 10 to 12%, respectively.
Notably, in mice, orally administered taurine at 500 and 1000 milligrams per kilogram body weight per day was also associated with improvements in strength, coordination, and cognitive functions and slowed several key markers of aging, including cellular senescence, mitochondrial and DNA damage, and inflammageing.
What’s more, the researchers also show that taurine supplementation in middle-aged rhesus macaques positively affected bone, metabolic, and immunological health.
Although the authors note that reversal of taurine deficiency during aging shows potential to be a promising anti-aging strategy, further research and human clinical trials are needed to see if taurine supplementation increases the healthy lifespan in humans.
In a Perspective, the authors note that although few risks to taurine supplementation have been suggested, the potential for risks still warrants consideration because large, long-term human safety trials are lacking, and the equivalent doses used in the Singh et al. study would be very high in humans.
“Thus, like any intervention, taurine supplementation with the aim of improving human health and longevity should be approached with caution,” write the authors.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn9257
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Ftaurine-deficiency-as-a&filter=22
Taurine supplementation improves mouse longevity and monkey health
- 907 views
- Added
Latest News
All individuals with two co…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Autoantibody patterns in pa…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
How brains convert sounds t…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Mice with traits of Tourett…
By newseditor
Posted 11 May
Intermittent fasting protec…
By newseditor
Posted 11 May
Other Top Stories
Role of disordered protein interactions in gene expression
Read more
Male-biased protein expression discovered in fruit flies
Read more
Cytosolic and membrane-bound ribosomal transcript profiles are diff…
Read more
Deep learning dreams up new protein structures
Read more
Controlling chromosomal looping by an RNA
Read more
Protocols
Improved detection of DNA r…
By newseditor
Posted 09 May
Single-cell adhesive profil…
By newseditor
Posted 07 May
Parasympathetic neurons der…
By newseditor
Posted 07 May
Non-invasive measurements o…
By newseditor
Posted 05 May
A validation strategy to as…
By newseditor
Posted 04 May
Publications
Antigen-specific Fab profil…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Differential representation…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Glucose hypometabolism prom…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Organellophagy regulates ce…
By newseditor
Posted 12 May
Decoding mitochondria's rol…
By newseditor
Posted 11 May
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar