Recent Longevity News for the week ending 4/26/17

Sugary Drinks Tied to Accelerated Brain Aging - NYT, 4/24/17 - "Compared with those who drank no sugary drinks, those who drank one or two a day had a reduced brain volume equivalent to 1.6 years of normal aging, and lower memory scores equivalent to 5.8 years of aging. Those who drank more than two had decreased brain volume equivalent to two years of normal aging and lower memory scores by the equivalent of 11 years"

Fish oil component helps damaged brain, retina cells survive, shows research - Science Daily, 4/21/17 - "NDP1, a signaling molecule made from DHA, can trigger the production of a protective protein against toxic free radicals and injury in the brain and retina ... DHA, found in fish oil, is an essential omega-3 fatty acid and is vital for proper brain function. It is also necessary for the development of the nervous system, including vision. A study from the Bazan laboratory published in 2011 found that DHA triggered the production of Neuroprotectin D1, a naturally occurring neuroprotective molecule in the brain derived from DHA" - See docosahexaenoic acid at Amazon.com.

Diet sodas may be tied to stroke, dementia risk  - CNN, 4/20/17 - "Compared to never drinking artificially sweetened soft drinks, those who drank one a day were almost three times as likely to have an ischemic stroke, caused by blocked blood vessels, the researchers found ... They also found that those who drank one a day were nearly three times as likely to be diagnosed with dementia ... Those who drank one to six artificially sweetened beverages a week were 2.6 times as likely to experience an ischemic stroke but were no more likely to develop dementia" - [AHA]

Study on mice demonstrates the action of strawberries against breast cancer - Science Daily, 4/19/17 - "strawberry extract can inhibit the spread of laboratory-grown breast cancer cells, even when they are inoculated in female mice to induce tumors ... It was also shown that strawberry extract reduced the expression of several genes involved in the processes of invasion and metastasis, such as Csf1, Mcam, Nr4a3 and Set. The extract simultaneously stimulated expression of the gene Htatip2, which is thought to suppress metastasis to the lymphatic ganglion in breast cancer patients"

What Tiny Telomeres May Tell Us About Aging - WebMD, 4/19/17 - "The foods you eat, your response to emotional challenges, the amount of exercise you get, whether you were exposed to childhood stress, and even the level of trust and safety in your neighborhood -- all of these factors and more appear to influence your telomeres and can prevent premature aging at the cellular level"

Abstracts from this week:

Sugar- and Artificially Sweetened Beverages and the Risks of Incident Stroke and Dementia: A Prospective Cohort Study - Stroke. 2017 Apr 20 - "When comparing daily cumulative intake to 0 per week (reference), the hazard ratios were 2.96 (95% confidence interval, 1.26-6.97) for ischemic stroke and 2.89 (95% confidence interval, 1.18-7.07) for Alzheimer's disease. Sugar-sweetened beverages were not associated with stroke or dementia"

Saponins (ginsenosides) from the Leaves of Panax Quinquefolius Ameliorated Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2017 Apr 21 - "Acetaminophen (APAP) overdose is the most frequent inducement of drug-induced acute liver injury (ALI). The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect of saponins (ginsenosides) from the leaves of Panax quinquefolius (PQS) against APAP-induced hepatotoxicity and the involved mechanism were investigated ... The present study clearly demonstrates that PQS exerts a protective effect against APAP-induced hepatotoxicity due to its anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects. The findings from the present investigation show that PQS might be an effective candidate extract against drug-induced ALI" - See ginseng at Amazon.com.

Curcumin Inhibits Apoptosis of Chondrocytes through Activation ERK1/2 Signaling Pathways Induced Autophagy - Nutrients. 2017 Apr 21;9(4) - "Evidence from several recent in vitro studies suggests that curcumin may exert a chondroprotective effect through actions such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, and anti-catabolic activity that are critical for mitigating OA disease pathogenesis and symptoms ... Our results suggest that curcumin suppresses apoptosis and inflammatory signaling through its actions on the ERK1/2-induced autophagy in chondrocytes. We propose that curcumin should be explored further for the prophylactic treatment of osteoarthritis in humans and companion animals" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Berberine-induced bioactive metabolites of the gut microbiota improve energy metabolism - Metabolism. 2017 May;70:72-84 - "Berberine (BBR) clinically lowers blood lipid and glucose levels via multi-target mechanisms ... Promotion of butyrate (etc) production in gut microbiota might be one of the important mechanisms of BBR in regulating energy metabolism" - See berberine at Amazon.com.

Piperine Triggers Apoptosis of Human Oral Squamous Carcinoma Through Cell Cycle Arrest and Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress - Nutr Cancer. 2017 Apr 20:1-9 - "Piperine induced significant (P < 0.01) dose-related increment in ROS production and nuclear condensation. Moreover, piperine stimulated cell death by inducing loss of MMP, and caspase-3 activation. Cell cycle study revealed that piperine arrested the cells in G2/M phase and decreased the DNA content. Findings of this study suggest the efficacy of piperine in inducing cell death via the decrease in MMP and ROS liberation followed by caspase-3 activation and cell cycle arrest" - See piperine extract at Amazon.com.

L-Carnitine supplementation to reverse hyperammonemia in a patient undergoing chronic valproic acid treatment: A case report - J Int Med Res. 2017 Jan 1 - "Carnitine supplementation was useful for reversal of her hyperammonemia, allowing her to continue valproic acid for seizure control" - See L-carnitine at Amazon.com.

Effects of subacute ingestion of chlorogenic acids on sleep architecture and energy metabolism through activity of the autonomic nervous system: a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blinded cross-over trial - Br J Nutr. 2017 Apr 17:1-6 - "Chlorogenic acids (CGA) are the most abundant polyphenols in coffee. Continuous consumption of CGA reduces body fat and body weight ... A period of 5-d CGA consumption significantly increased fat oxidation during sleep, suggesting that beverages containing CGA may be beneficial to reduce body fat and prevent obesity. Consumption of CGA shortened sleep latency and did not adversely affect sleep quality" - [Nutra USA] - See green coffee bean extract at Amazon.com (usually standardized to 50% chlorogenic acids).

Age-Associated Microbial Dysbiosis Promotes Intestinal Permeability, Systemic Inflammation, and Macrophage Dysfunction - Cell Host Microbe. 2017 Apr 12 - "Levels of inflammatory mediators in circulation are known to increase with age, but the underlying cause of this age-associated inflammation is debated ... These data suggest that aging-associated microbiota promote inflammation and that reversing these age-related microbiota changes represents a potential strategy for reducing age-associated inflammation and the accompanying morbidity" - [Nutra USA] - See probiotic products at Amazon.com. 

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