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Recent Longevity News for the week ending 5/10/23

Napping and AFib Risk: The Long and the Short of It - Medscape, 5/5/23 - "Napping for more than half an hour during the day was associated with a 90% increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AFib), ... Potential explanations for the associations include the role of circadian rhythms ... Long daytime naps may disrupt the body's internal clock (circadian rhythm), leading to shorter nighttime sleep, more nocturnal awakening, and reduced physical activity. In contrast, short daytime napping may improve circadian rhythm, lower blood pressure levels, and reduce stress"

Erectile Dysfunction Prevalence Spikes in Hyperthyroid Men - Medscape, 5/2/23 - "The odds ratio for having ED was significantly higher in men with hyperthyroidism compared with those without hyperthyroidism in the study from China, at 1.74, and also in the meta-analysis, which produced a significant odds ratio of 1.73"

Abstracts from this week:

Cordycepin buffers anisomycin-induced fear memory deficit by restoring hippocampal BDNF- Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2023 May 3 - "The process of memory consolidation involves the synthesis of new proteins, and interfering with protein synthesis through anisomycin can impair memory. Memory deficits due to aging and sleep disorders may also result from a reduction in protein synthesis. Rescuing memory deficits caused by protein synthesis deficiency is therefore an important issue that needs to be addressed ... We observed that cordycepin was able to attenuate these deficits and restore BDNF levels in the hippocampus. The behavioral effects of cordycepin were dependent on the BDNF/TrkB pathway, as demonstrated by the use of ANA-12. Cordycepin had no significant impact on locomotor activity, anxiety or fear memory. Our findings provide the first evidence that cordycepin can prevent anisomycin-induced memory deficits by regulating BDNF expression in the hippocampus" - See cordycepin at Amazon.com.

• Cordycepin: A Cordyceps Metabolite with Promising Therapeutic Potential - HIH - "Cordycepin, a nucleoside analogue, is the main bioactive ingredient of Cordyceps and known to mediate a variety of pharmacological effects. Many chemically modified cordycepin derivatives have been reported which have shown more potential therapeutic effects"

Curcumin suppressed the proliferation and apoptosis of HPV-positive cervical cancer cells by directly targeting the E6 protein- Phytother Res 2023 May 8 - "Most human papillomavirus (HPV) types, including HPV16 and HPV18, are closely related to the occurrence of cervical cancer, predominantly through the action of viral oncoproteins E6 and E7. Curcumin, the active ingredient of the turmeric plant, has been gaining attention over the past two decades as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer agent ... In summary, our research shows that curcumin regulates the apoptosis, migration, and invasion of cervical cancer cells, and the mechanism may be related to its ability to downregulate E6. This study provides a foundation for future research on the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer" - See curcumin at Amazon.com.

Agrimoniin is a dual inhibitor of AKT and ERK pathways that inhibit pancreatic cancer cell proliferation - Phytother Res 2023 May 8 - "Molecular-targeted therapy has shown its effectiveness in pancreatic cancer, while single-targeted drug often cannot provide long-term benefit because of drug resistance. Fortunately, multitarget combination therapy can reverse drug resistance and achieve better efficacy. The typical treatment characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine monomer on tumor are multiple targets, with small side effects, low toxicity, and so forth. Agrimoniin has been reported to be effective on some cancers, while the mechanism still needs to be clarified ... agrimoniin inhibited cell proliferation by simultaneously inhibiting AKT and ERK pathways. Moreover, agrimoniin could significantly increase the inhibitory effect of LY294002 and U0126 on pancreatic cancer cells. Meanwhile, in vivo experiments also supported the above results. In general, agrimoniin is a double-target inhibitor of AKT and ERK pathways in pancreatic cancer cells; it is expected to be used as a resistance reversal agent of targeted drugs or a synergistic drug of the inhibitor of AKT pathway or ERK pathway" - See agrimoniin at Amazon.com (I don't think they sell it).

• The Therapeutic Effects of Agrimonia eupatoria L - NIH - "Agrimonia eupatoria L. is an herb of the Rosaceae family, widely used in traditional (folk) medicine for its beneficial effects. Its water extracts (infusions and decoctions) are used in the treatment of airway and urinary system diseases, digestive tract diseases, and chronic wounds"

Genistein exerts anti-colorectal cancer actions: clinical reports, computational and validated findings - "Colorectal cancer (CRC) is presently a health challenge in China. Although clinical chemotherapy is prescribed availably, the negative effects and poor prognoses still occur. Genistein has antitumor properties in our previous studies ... All 48 potential targets of genistein-anti-CRC-associated autophagy were screened accordingly. Further bioinformatics analyses identified 10 core genistein-anti-CRC targets related to autophagy, and enrichment-assayed results revealed that the biological processes of these core targets might regulate multiple molecular pathways, including the estrogen signaling pathway. Additionally, molecular docking data demonstrated that genistein has a high affinity for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and estrogen receptor 1 (ESR1). Both EGFR and ESR1 proteins were highly expressed in clinical CRC samples. Preliminary in vitro data showed that genistein effectively reduced cellular proliferation, activated apoptosis, and suppressed EGFR and ESR1 protein expressions in CRC cells. Our research findings uncovered the molecular mechanisms of genistein against CRC, and the potential drug targets associated with autophagy in genistein treatment of CRC were identified and validated experimentally, including EGFR and ESR1" - See genistein at Amazon.com.

Association of protein intake with recurrence and survival following primary treatment of ovarian cancer - Am J Clin Nutr 2023 May 3 - "After primary treatment for ovarian cancer, a higher level of protein intake may benefit progression-free survival. Ovarian cancer survivors should avoid dietary practices that limit intake of protein-rich foods" - See Ensure High Protein at Amazon.com.

Quercetin Alleviates Acrylamide-Induced Liver Injury by Inhibiting Autophagy-Dependent Ferroptosis - J Agric Food Chem 2023 May 3 - "Acrylamide (ACR) generated in carbohydrate-rich foods during thermal processing has been demonstrated to exhibit hepatotoxicity. As one of the most consumed flavonoids with diet, quercetin (QCT) possesses the ability to protect against ACR-induced toxicity, albeit its mechanism is unclear. Herein, we discovered that QCT alleviated ACR-induced elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), AST, and ALT in mice. RNA-seq analysis revealed that QCT reversed the ferroptosis signaling pathway upregulated by ACR. Subsequently, experiments indicated that QCT inhibited ACR-induced ferroptosis through the reduction of oxidative stress. With autophagy inhibitor chloroquine, we further confirmed that QCT suppressed ACR-induced ferroptosis by inhibiting oxidative stress-driven autophagy. Additionally, QCT specifically reacted with autophagic cargo receptor NCOA4, blocked the degradation of iron storage protein FTH1, and eventually downregulated the intracellular iron levels and the consequent ferroptosis. Collectively, our results presented a unique approach to alleviate ACR-induced liver injury by targeting ferroptosis with QCT" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.

Sulforaphane Targets the TBX15/KIF2C Pathway to Repress Glycolysis and Cell Proliferation in Gastric Carcinoma Cells - Nutr Cancer 2023;75(4):1263-1270 - "The anti-tumor effects of sulforaphane were antagonized by down-regulation of TBX15, up-regulation of KIF2C or addition of a PKM2 agonist. Sulforaphane can reduce cell proliferation and PKM2-mediated glycolysis in gastric carcinoma cells, apparently by activating the TBX15/KIF2C pathway" - See sulforaphane at Amazon.com.

Proton Pump Inhibitors, Kidney Damage, and Mortality: An Updated Narrative Review - Adv Ther 2023 May 4 - "Even though PPIs have many clinical uses, they are not without their adverse effects, mimicking achlorhydria. Besides electrolyte abnormalities and vitamin deficiencies, long-term use of PPIs has been linked to acute interstitial nephritis, bone fractures, poor COVID-19 infection outcomes, pneumonia, and possibly an increase in all-cause mortality. The causality between PPI use and increased mortality and disease risk can be questioned since most studies are observational. Confounding variables can greatly affect an observational study and explain the wide-ranging associations with the use of PPIs. Patients on PPIs are generally older, obese, sicker with a higher number of baseline morbidities, and on more medications than the compared PPI non-users. These findings suggest that PPI users are at a higher risk of mortality and complications based on pre-existing conditions"

Greater Gestational Vitamin D Status is Associated with Reduced Childhood Behavioral Problems in the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Program - J Nutr 2023 May;15 - "This study confirmed a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy, particularly among Black women, and revealed evidence of an association between lower gestational 25(OH)D and childhood behavioral problems. Associations were more apparent in analyses restricted to prenatal rather than cord blood samples. Interventions to correct vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy should be explored as a strategy to improve childhood behavioral outcomes" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Association of maternal vitamin D status with the risk of preeclampsia - Food Funct 2023 May 2 - "Our finding of lower vitamin D concentrations in mid-pregnancy, before women developed clinical preeclampsia, suggests that vitamin D may have a role in its pathophysiology" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Cocoa flavanol supplementation preserves early and late radial artery function after transradial catheterization -  Food Funct 2023 May 2 - "transradial coronary angiography (TCA) ... Peri-interventional cocoa flavanol supplementation prevents long-term intima media thickening and endothelial dysfunction 6 months after TCA opening the perspective for dietary interventions to mitigate endothelial cell damage and intimal hyperplasia after mechanical injury" - See dark Chocolate at Amazon.com.

Health Focus (Magnesium):