An Elixir of Life: Taurine Boosts Lifespan and Healthspan in Animals
A recent study led by Columbia researchers found that taurine, a nutrient produced in the body and found in many foods, plays a significant role in driving aging in animals. The study involved dozens of aging researchers, and the same study found that taurine supplements can slow the aging process in worms, mice, and monkeys. It can even extend the healthy lifespan of middle-aged mice by up to 12%. The study was published in Science on June 8, 2022.
Researchers have actively searched for interventions that improve health in later life as scientists have learned more about the aging process, and people are now living longer. Many studies have found that various molecules carried in the bloodstream are associated with aging. The role of these molecules in actively driving the aging process or as just traveling passengers is still not clear. Restoring a youthful level of such molecules could slow aging and increase the duration of health, the years spent in good health.
During an earlier osteoporosis research, the researcher leading the study, Vijay Yadav, PhD, assistant professor of genetics and development at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, discovered taurine’s role in bone formation. At the same time, other researchers found taurine levels correlated with immune function, obesity, and nervous system functions. Yadav thought that as taurine regulates all processes that decline with age, its levels in the bloodstream could affect overall health and life expectancy.
Taurine Declines with Age, but Supplementation Increases Life Expectancy in Mice
Taurine levels in the bloodstreams of mice, monkeys, and people decrease substantially with age; taurine levels in 60-year-olds are only about a third of those found in 5-year-olds. Yadav’s team analyzed taurine levels in the bloodstreams of mice, monkeys, and people, finding that taurine abundance declines substantially with age. The researchers conducted the same experiment with mice, and half of them received taurine supplements daily. Yadav and his team found that taurine increased the average lifespan by about 10% to 12%. That meant an extra three to four months of life for the mice, equivalent to about seven to eight human years.
Taurine Supplements in Middle Age Improve Health in Old Age
To investigate how taurine affects health, Yadav invited other senior researchers to study the effect of taurine supplementation on health and lifespan in various species. They measured various health parameters in mice at the age of 2 years, which is equivalent to 60 human years. The researchers found that the animals supplemented with taurine for one year were healthier than their counterparts. They experienced suppressions in age-associated weight gain in female mice, even in menopausal mice, increased energy expenditure, increased bone mass, improved endurance and muscle strength, reduced anxious behaviors and signs of depression, reduced insulin resistance, and promoted a younger-looking immune system, among other benefits.
The impact of taurine supplementation on middle-aged rhesus monkeys was similar. The monkeys received daily taurine supplements for six months, which prevented weight gain, lowered fasting blood glucose and markers of liver damage, increased bone density in the spine and legs, and improved the health of their immune systems.
A Randomized Clinical Trial is Needed
While the researchers aren’t yet sure if taurine supplements will improve health or increase longevity in humans, the study’s two experiments suggest that taurine has potential. In the first, participants aged 60 and over who had higher taurine levels were healthier overall, with fewer cases of type-2 diabetes, lower levels of obesity, reduced hypertension, and lower levels of inflammation. They also found that taurine levels respond to an intervention known to improve health, such as exercise. As taurine abundance declines with age, restoring taurine to a youthful level in old age may be a promising anti-aging strategy.
Overall, scientists and researchers are searching for molecules that could slow the aging process rather than halt it altogether. Several potential anti-aging drugs, including metformin, rapamycin, and NAD analogues, are being considered for clinical trial testing, including taurine. Notably, Yadav says taurine has benefits as it occurs naturally in the body, can be obtained conveniently in the diet, has no known toxic effects, and can be enhanced by exercise.
Expanding on the Topic
The discovery of taurine’s potential is groundbreaking for researchers studying aging’s impact on animals and humans. It provides a promising solution to mitigate aging’s effects and increase people’s healthy lifespan. However, while researchers have been conducting extensive testing on taurine’s positive impact in animals, research on taurine’s positive impact on human life expectancy and health span remains slim.
While the research on taurine’s positive effects on metabolism is exciting, there is still much that we don’t know. Additionally, the researchers are using animals as a model, which means we need to be careful when interpreting findings in humans. We also need to understand the optimal dose of taurine for maximum benefits in different age groups.
Overall, taurine provides promising results for enhancing animal health and clearly has a significant impact on aging processes. However, it’s necessary to conduct randomized clinical trials in humans to determine if taurine supplementation has health benefits in humans, as exercise and taurine interventions cannot demonstrate causation from the conducted experiments. To that end, researchers are testing taurine for obesity trials, among other areas. Taurine’s potential as an “elixir of life” is exciting news, but we need to remain cautious and realistic about its effects on human health.
Summary
Taurine is a nutrient that plays a significant role in driving aging processes in animals. Studies have found that the abundance of taurine declines significantly with age in mice, monkeys, and humans. However, taurine supplements can slow the aging process in these animals, and it can even extend their healthy lifespan by up to 12%.
Additionally, taurine supplementation has shown positive impact on age-associated health issues in animals, such as increased bone mass, increased energy expenditure, improved muscle strength, reduced anxious behaviors, reduced insulin resistance, and decreased inflammation levels. It can be obtained naturally in the diet, and it has no toxic effects and can be enhanced by exercise. However, randomized clinical trials need to be conducted in humans to determine if taurine supplementation would have health benefits in humans.
While taurine shows promise as an “elixir of life,” we need to remain cautious and realistic about its effects on human health. We need to conduct age-appropriate dosages to increase the health span of different age groups, and there is a long way to go before we can say for certain that taurine provides these benefits.
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A deficiency of taurine, a nutrient produced in the body and found in many foods, is a factor driving aging in animals, according to a new study led by Columbia researchers and involving dozens of aging researchers from everyone.
The same study also found that taurine supplements can slow the aging process in worms, mice, and monkeys, and can even extend the healthy lifespan of middle-aged mice by up to 12 percent.
The study was published June 8 in Science.
“For the past 25 years, scientists have been trying to find factors that not only allow us to live longer, but also increase life expectancy, the length of time we stay healthy into our old age,” says study leader, Vijay Yadav, PhD, assistant professor. of genetics and 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, healthier lives.”
Anti-aging molecules within us
Over the past two decades, efforts to identify interventions that improve health in later life have intensified as people live longer and scientists have learned that the aging process can be manipulated.
Many studies have found that various molecules carried in the bloodstream are associated with aging. Less certain is whether these molecules actively drive the aging process or are just traveling passengers. If a molecule is a driver of aging, restoring its youthful levels would slow aging and increase the duration of health, the years spent in good health.
Taurine first came to Yadav’s mind during his earlier osteoporosis research that discovered taurine’s role in bone formation. Around the same time, other researchers discovered that taurine levels were correlated with immune function, obesity, and nervous system functions.
“We realized that if taurine regulates all these processes that decline with age, perhaps taurine levels in the bloodstream affect overall health and life expectancy,” says Yadav.
Taurine decreases with age, supplementation increases life expectancy in mice
First, Yadav’s team analyzed taurine levels in the bloodstreams of mice, monkeys and people and found that taurine abundance declines substantially with age. In people, taurine levels in 60-year-olds were only about a third of those found in 5-year-olds.
“That’s when we started to wonder if taurine deficiency is a factor that drives the aging process, and we set up a big experiment with mice,” says Yadav.
The researchers started with about 250 14-month-old male and female mice (about 45 years in person terms). Every day, the researcher fed half of them a bolus of taurine or 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 an extra three to four months, equivalent to about seven to eight human years.
Taurine supplements in middle age improve health in old age
To learn how taurine affected health, Yadav invited other senior researchers who investigated the effect of taurine supplementation on health and lifespan in various species.
These experts measured various health parameters in mice and found that at the age of 2 years (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 endurance and muscle strength, reduced anxious behaviors and depression-like, 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 live healthier lives,” says Yadav.
At the cellular level, taurine improved many functions that generally decline with age: the supplement decreased the number of “zombie cells” (old cells that should die but instead remain and release harmful substances), increased survival after deficiency of telomerase, 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 detect nutrients.
Similar health effects of taurine supplementation were seen in middle-aged rhesus monkeys, which received daily taurine supplements for six months. Taurine prevented weight gain, lowered fasting blood glucose and markers of liver damage, increased bone density in the spine and legs, and improved the health of their immune systems.
A randomized clinical trial is needed
The researchers don’t yet know if taurine supplements will improve health or increase longevity in humans, but two experiments they conducted suggest that 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 levels of obesity, reduced hypertension, and lower levels of inflammation. “These are associations that do not establish causation,” says Yadav, “but the results are consistent with the possibility that taurine deficiency contributes to human aging.”
The second study tested whether 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 strenuous cycling 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, suggesting that some of the health benefits of exercise may come from an increase in taurine,” says Yadav.
Only a randomized clinical trial in people will determine if taurine actually has any health benefits, Yadav adds. Trials of taurine for obesity are currently underway, but none are designed to measure a wide range of health parameters.
Other potential antiaging drugs, including metformin, rapamycin, and NAD analogues, are being considered for clinical trial testing.
“I think taurine should be considered as well,” Yadav says. “And it has some advantages: Taurine occurs naturally in our bodies, it can be obtained naturally in the diet, it has no known toxic effects (although it is rarely used in the concentrations used), and it can be enhanced by exercise.
“Taurine abundance declines with age, so restoring taurine to a youthful level in old age may be a promising antiaging strategy.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608195654.htm
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