Recent Longevity News for the week ending 1/27/16

Brain levels of vitamin B12 decrease with age and are prematurely low in people with autism and schizophrenia - Science Daily, 1/23/16 - "Vitamin B12 levels in the brain are significantly decreased in the elderly and are much lower in individuals with autism or schizophrenia, as compared to their peers at similar ages ... healthy elderly people in the age range of 61-80 have about three times lower levels of total brain B12 than younger age groups, which is a result of normal aging" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.

New study shows aged garlic extract can reduce dangerous plaque buildup in arteries - Science Daily, 1/21/16 - "the participants were given either a placebo or a dose of 2,400 milligrams of Aged Garlic Extract every day. A follow-up screening conducted a year after the initial screening found those who had taken Aged Garlic Extract had slowed total plaque accumulation by 80%, reduced soft plaque and demonstrated regression (less plaque on follow-up) for low-attenuation plaque" - See garlic supplements at Amazon.com.

B12 deficiency a concern for long-term care - Science Daily, 1/19/16 - "A high proportion of older adults entering long-term care homes in Ontario are B12 deficient, with more developing deficiencies over the course of their first year in residence ... Untreated B12 deficiency will eventually lead to anemia and neurologic complications such as unsteady gait and paralysis. Low levels of the vitamin have been found to be associated with depression and dementia, increased confusion, lethargy and even osteoporosis" - See vitamin B12 at Amazon.com.

Abstracts from this week:

Fish, Long-Chain n-3 PUFA and Incidence of Elevated Blood Pressure: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies - Nutrients. 2016 Jan 21;8(1) - "elevated blood pressure (EBP) ... Circulating LC n-3 PUFA as biomarker was inversely associated with incidence of EBP (SRR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.83), especially docosahexaenoic acid (SRR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.88), whereas no significant association was found for dietary intake (SRR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.58, 1.10). The present finding suggests that increased intake of docosahexaenoic acid to improve its circulating levels may benefit primary prevention of EBP" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Resveratrol exerts antidepressant properties in the chronic unpredictable mild stress model through the regulation of oxidative stress and mTOR pathway in the rat hippocampus and prefrontal cortex - Behav Brain Res. 2016 Jan 19 - "prefrontal cortex (PFC) ... chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) ... resveratrol exerted antidepressant-like effects in CUMS rats, which was mediated in part by its antioxidant action, up-regulation of phosphor-Akt and mTOR levels in the hippocampus and PFC" - See ReserveAge Resveratrol Vegetarian Capsules, 500 Mg, 60-Count at Amazon.com.

Micronutrients and the risk of hip fracture: Case-control study - Clin Nutr. 2015 Dec 23 - "Vitamin D, and possibly vitamin K, has an established association to fracture risk. Other vitamins are, however, less studied ... Low vitamin A, C, and E concentrations are associated with an increased risk of hip fracture, possibly mediated through bone turnover mechanisms"

Vinegar treatment prevents the development of murine experimental colitis via inhibition of inflammation and apoptosis - J Agric Food Chem. 2016 Jan 21 - "This study investigated the preventive effects of vinegar and acetic acid (the active component of vinegar) on ulcerative colitis (UC) in mice. Vinegar (5% v/v) or acetic acid (0.3% w/v) treatment significantly reduced the disease activity index and histopathological scores, attenuated body weight loss and shortened the colon length in a murine experimental colitis model induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) ... Surprisingly, pretreatment with vinegar for 28 days before DSS induction increased levels of the commensal lactic acid-producing or acetic acid-producing bacteria, including Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria and Enterococcus faecalis, whereas decreased Escherichia coli levels were found in the feces of mice. These results suggest that vinegar supplement might provide a new dietary strategy for the prevention of UC" - See apple cider vinegar at Amazon.com.

Influence of Topical, Systemic and Combined Application of Antioxidants on the Barrier Properties of the Human Skin - Skin Pharmacol Physiol. 2016 Jan 23 - "The formation of free radicals in human skin by solar ultraviolet radiation is considered to be the main reason for extrinsic skin aging. The antioxidants in human tissue represent an efficient protection system against the destructive action of these reactive free radicals ... The study included 5 groups of 15 volunteers each, who were treated for 2 months with antioxidant-containing or placebo tablets, creams or a combination of antioxidant-containing tablets and cream ... The verum cream had a positive influence on epidermal thickness, elasticity and skin moisture, but the verum tablets improved the epidermal thickness only. The combined application of verum tablets and creams led to a significant improvement of all investigated skin parameters, whereas the application of placebo tablets or cream did not influence any parameters" - See OZ Naturals- THE BEST Vitamin C Serum For Your Face Contains Clinical Strength 20% Vitamin C + Hyaluronic Acid Anti Wrinkle Anti Aging Serum For A Radiant & More Youthful Glow!, Protein Essentials Hydrolyzed Collagen Protein Powder with Peptan® (16oz) at Amazon.com and Sunkist Grower Select Blueberry Capsules, 500 mg, 90 Count Bottle.

Prenatal folate, homocysteine and vitamin B12 levels and child brain volumes, cognitive development and psychological functioning: the Generation R Study - Br J Nutr. 2016 Jan 22:1-9 - "Our findings suggest that folate insufficiency in early pregnancy has a long-lasting, global effect on brain development and is, together with homocysteine levels, associated with poorer cognitive performance"

Free Thyroxine and Functional Mobility, Fitness, and Fatigue in Euthyroid Older Men and Women in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2016 Jan 20 - "Adjusting for sex, age, race, height, weight, exercise and smoking, reported walking ability, usual and rapid gait speed, 400-m time, fatigability, and reported energy level were less favorable with increasing FT4 (p = .013 to <.001). In sex-strata, similar associations were observed except for walking ability in men and energy level in women. Categorical analyses revealed that persons with low FT4 exhibited better functional mobility, fitness, and reported energy than persons with intermediate or high levels (p < .05 for all). Persons with high-normal versus medium FT4 had slower usual and rapid gait speed (p < .05) only"

Dietary anthocyanin intake and age-related decline in lung function: longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Jan 20 - "Strong inverse associations were found between anthocyanin intake and age-related decline in lung function. Independent of dietary and nondietary risk factors, slower rates of FEV1 and FVC decline by 23.6 (95% CI: 16.6, 30.7) and 37.3 (95% CI: 27.8, 46.8) mL/y, respectively, were observed in participants in the fourth quartile of intake compared with participants in the first quartile (P-trend < 0.0001). The protective associations observed for anthocyanin intake were present in both current/former and never smokers. Compared with no or very low intakes, an intake of ≥2 servings of anthocyanin-rich blueberries/wk was associated with slower decline in FEV1 and FVC by 22.5 (95% CI: 10.8, 34.2) and 37.9 (95% CI: 22.1, 53.7) mL/y, respectively. To a lesser extent, higher flavan-3-ol intake was also associated with slower lung function decline" - See blueberry extract at Amazon.com and grape seed extract at Amazon.com.

Plasma carotenoids, vitamin C, tocopherols, and retinol and the risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort - Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Jan 20 - "In quintile 5 compared with quintile 1, α-carotene (OR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.39, 0.98) and β-carotene (OR: 0.41" - See carotenoids at Amazon.com.

Epidemiological and Mendelian randomisation studies of dihydrotestosterone and estradiol, and leucocyte telomere length in men - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016 Jan 20 - "Advancing age is accompanied by accumulation of ill-health and shortening of chromosomal telomeres signifying biological ageing. Testosterone (T) is metabolised to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by 5|ga-reductase (SRD5A2) and to estradiol (E2) by aromatase (CYP19A1). Telomerase preserves telomeres, and T and E2 regulate telomerase expression and activity in vitro ... leucocyte telomere length (LTL) ... After adjustment for age, DHT and E2 were positively correlated with LTL"

Coffee induces vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in human neuroblastama SH-SY5Y cells - Nutr Neurosci. 2016 Jan 20 - "Our results suggest that daily consumption of coffee may induce VEGF expression in neuronal cells. This might be related to protective effect of coffee on neural disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease"

Quercetin lowers plasma uric acid in pre-hyperuricaemic males: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial - Br J Nutr. 2016 Jan 20:1-7 - "The intervention included one tablet containing 500 mg quercetin daily for 4 weeks, compared with placebo, with a 4-week washout period between treatments ... After quercetin treatment, plasma uric acid concentrations were significantly lowered by -26·5 µmol/l (95 % CI, -7·6, -45·5; P=0·008), without affecting fasting glucose, urinary excretion of uric acid or blood pressure" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Positive Association of Vitamin E Supplementation with Hemoglobin Levels in Mildly Anemic Healthy Pakistani Adults - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2015;85(1-2):39-49 - "The study showed a positive association between vitamin E supplementation and enhanced hemoglobin levels in mildly anemic adults" - See Jarrow FamilE (contains all eight members of the vitamin E family, includes Tocomin) at Amazon.com.

Supplementation with Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) for Migraine Prophylaxis in Adults and Children: A Review - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2015;85(1-2):79-87 - "The results indicated that supplementation with vitamin B2 in adults can play a positive role in reducing the frequency and duration of migraine attacks with no serious side effects" - See vitamin B2 at Amazon.com.

The Effect of Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation on Pro-Inflammatory Factors and Adiponectin in Mildly Hypertensive Patients: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2015 Dec;85(3-4):156-64 - "Daily supplementation of 100 mg coenzyme Q10 can be effective in decreasing some pro-inflammatory factors, such as IL6 and hs-CRP, and in increasing adiponectin" - See ubiquinol products at Amazon.com.

Homocysteine Levels Show Significant Differences among Mediterranean Dietary Quality Index Variables Compared to Folate and Vitamin B12 Status in Women - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2015 Dec;85(3-4):202-10 - "The strength of correlation using biomarkers, regardless of group type, age, gender and other measured parameters, was ranked from best (0.11) to worst (0.52) for olive oil, fish, fruits and vegetables, grains, and meat, in this order"

Taurine Supplementation Lowers Blood Pressure and Improves Vascular Function in Prehypertension: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study - Hypertension. 2016 Jan 18 - "We randomly assigned 120 eligible prehypertensive individuals to receive either taurine supplementation (1.6 g per day) or a placebo for 12 weeks. Taurine supplementation significantly decreased the clinic and 24-hour ambulatory BPs, especially in those with high-normal BP. Mean clinic systolic BP reduction for taurine/placebo was 7.2/2.6 mm Hg, and diastolic BP was 4.7/1.3 mm Hg. Mean ambulatory systolic BP reduction for taurine/placebo was 3.8/0.3 mm Hg, and diastolic BP was 3.5/0.6 mm Hg. In addition, taurine supplementation significantly improved endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent vasodilation and increased plasma H2S and taurine concentrations" - See taurine at Amazon.com. 

Health Focus (Chromium):