Posted on 08/06/2025 12:54:42 PM PDT by Red Badger
Lab-dish study using brain cells from elderly mice yields promising results for a potential anti-aging recipe, but more research is necessary.
In A Nutshell
* Aging brain cells in mice restored youthful energy balance (GTP levels) within 16 hours using vitamin B3 and green tea extract
* The treatment cleared toxic protein buildup and improved survival by 22% in Alzheimer’s-model neurons
* It also restored waste-clearing vesicle function by reducing the buildup of Rab7- and Arl8b-tagged vesicles
* Findings are based on in vitro studies and will require confirmation in living animals and humans
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IRVINE, Calif. — Can brain cells really bounce back in a day? In an exciting lab-dish experiment, brain cells from elderly mice regained their youthful energy balance in just 16 hours using a combination of nicotinamide (vitamin B3) and EGCG, the main antioxidant in green tea.
As brain cells age, they lose their ability to produce adequate levels of GTP, a molecular energy source essential for cleaning up waste. Without it, neurons struggle to remove damaged proteins and debris, which can build up and disrupt brain function.
Published in GeroScience, the research shows that aged brain cells, including those from mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, restored their GTP levels after a single treatment. The combination also cleared toxic protein clumps linked to Alzheimer’s and improved cell survival by 22% in aged Alzheimer’s-model neurons.
How Vitamin B3 and Green Tea Compound Restore Brain Cell Function Researchers from the University of California, Irvine, discovered that combining nicotinamide with EGCG could rapidly restore lost cellular energy. Nicotinamide boosts levels of NAD+, a molecule that supports cellular metabolism and serves as a precursor in GTP production. EGCG activates Nrf2, a cellular defense switch that turns on protective antioxidant genes.
Within 30 minutes of treatment, Nrf2 began moving into the nucleus of neurons, where it activated known target genes like NQO1. This response suggests the treatment provides both immediate antioxidant protection and a boost in cellular energy balance.
The research team used brain cells from young (2–6 months), middle-aged (8–11 months), and old (17–28 months) mice. Half came from healthy mice, while the other half came from genetically modified mice that develop Alzheimer’s-like symptoms with age.
Using a fluorescent biosensor called GEVAL, scientists measured real-time GTP levels inside the neurons. They then treated the older neurons with nicotinamide, EGCG, or both together for 16 hours.
Happy senior: Older woman has strong brain health Though follow-up studies are in order, the findings are great news for older adults, particularly those who drink green tea. (Photo by Krakenimages.com on Shutterstock) Brain Cells Regain Youthful Energy Levels After Treatment Energy levels followed different trajectories depending on age and disease. In healthy neurons, GTP levels rose in middle age before falling in old age. In Alzheimer’s-model neurons, the decline happened earlier and remained low.
After 16 hours of combination treatment, neurons from both groups regained GTP levels comparable to those of young cells. This energy restoration had visible effects: neurons resumed clearing cellular waste, including amyloid-beta protein clumps often seen in Alzheimer’s disease.
The treatment also reduced the buildup of vesicles involved in waste processing. These vesicles, marked by the GTPases Rab7 and Arl8b, tend to accumulate in aging neurons when energy is low. After treatment, the number and size of these vesicles returned to youthful levels, suggesting that cellular cleanup pathways were functioning more normally again.
Further Research Needed
While promising, the study has limitations. It was conducted on neurons in petri dishes (not in living animals) and only measured short-term effects. It’s unknown whether the benefits would persist over time or in full organisms.
The Alzheimer’s mouse model also produces higher-than-natural levels of disease proteins. Further research will need to test these results in live animals and eventually in humans to determine dosing, delivery, and safety.
“More work is going to be required to find the best way to administer this treatment, since a recent clinical trial involving UC Irvine researchers showed that oral nicotinamide was not very effective because of inactivation in the bloodstream,” said lead author Gregory Brewer, adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at UC Irvine, in a statement.
Still, the findings suggest brain cell aging may be more reversible than previously believed. Simple compounds like vitamin B3 and green tea extract could one day help protect brain health and support cleanup processes that falter with age.
Disclaimer: This article summarizes findings from a preclinical study conducted on isolated mouse brain cells in laboratory conditions. The results, while promising, have not yet been tested in living animals or humans. Dosage estimates and potential implications for human health are extrapolations based on standard scientific methods and are provided for informational purposes only.
This content is not intended as medical advice and should not be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your supplement or healthcare routine, especially when considering high doses of vitamins or antioxidants.
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Sounds good. I’ve been taking .067 mg of Niacinamide 3x daily. Got that advice ftom Dr. Mercola. Each morning I drink 3g of matcha tea, which has 150-300 mg of EGCG. I skip a day or two a week fasting and to rebalance.
Easy way to find out: feed it to Sleepy Joe
Thanks. I had a teaspoon of aged mice brains I was going to take.
Remember “Flowers for Algernon” and “Charly”?
I’ll dash right out and get some B3 and green tea if I can remember it.
I enjoy green tea daily as well. That said, what is “raw” green tea?
My neighbor, who had a radiology center, told me in 2020 that he had applied for approval for med-beds. Still no med-beds five years later,
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I never even heard of a med-bed. Had to look it up.
I should try some of this. I recently started having a hot cup in the mornings of a mix of 5 mushrooms and some spices. At my age, I hope it’s not too late to start thinking more about my brain health.
B4L8r
Niacin: The Real Story (2nd Edition) by Abram Hoffer, Andrew W. Saul, and Harry D. Foster
” . .Niacin (vitamin B3) is a biomolecule required by all forms of life. It functions as a precursor to NAD, an enzymatic co-factor in hundreds of metabolic pathways. . . . This new expanded edition nearly doubles the original Niacin: The Real Story, (from 228 to now 490 pages). It has several new chapters and appendices and more than 600 references to document recent advances in scientific knowledge about niacin. . . .Several chapters focus on the different forms of the molecule niacin, how it works, safety of niacin supplements, and how to take niacin supplements. Other chapters describe how niacin can help to prevent and reverse a variety of diseases and other conditions, including arthritis, ADHD, many forms of mental illness, cardiovascular disease, aging, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s, cancer, cholera, Huntingdon’s disease, migraine, multiple sclerosis, nephritis (kidney inflammation), Parkinsonism, PTSD, Raynaud’s disease, and a variety of skin conditions. There is a special chapter focused on the recent COVID-19 pandemic: how niacin can help the body recover from infection and reduce the risk of “Long COVID.”
. . . .” . . .The new section on Erectile Dysfunction may interest many readers. Adequate doses of niacin taken long-term can help to prevent atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia, and related coronary disease, and it also is a vasodilator. Because niacin (but not niacinamide) normalizes blood lipids, its long-term circulatory benefits may facilitate a male’s erection. While the vasodilation produced by niacin is not as long as produced by ED drugs, the niacin flush typically lasts about half an hour. But since niacin also helps to improve mood and possibly sexual interest, generally the sense of calmness from a goodly dose of niacin may tend to diminish passion. In a related topic, adequate doses of niacin and the consequential flush that dilates blood vessels have been employed by people to ameliorate Raynaud’s syndrome (cold hands and feet due to reduced blood flow).. .”
” . . . this revised edition of Niacin: The Real Story, authors Hoffer, Foster, and Saul clearly present the practical details of niacin treatment. Inevitable physician skepticism, and questions about niacin’s proven safety and effectiveness, are thoroughly addressed in this book. However, this is NOT a biochemistry textbook — to most of us, that is a relief. But since even a basic working knowledge of niacin can profoundly improve the health of so many patients, this vitamin becomes very interesting very quickly.”
See more info at site and in book.
N.
https://isom.ca/article/niacin-the-real-story-2nd-edition-review/
Yes...hyperbaric does amazing things
Fresh cut uji tea
“Findings are based on in vitro studies and will require confirmation in living animals and humans”
Another words send a lot of money for many years.
Sheesh....”in other words”
I used to work with someone who said he took 1000 vitamin pills per day.
Vitamin E found to slow Alzheimer’s march - VUMC News https://share.google/eX1Rm0mQerEAoc3OO
Supplemental magnesium in bioavailable forms are also vasodilators and can remedy the inflammation generated by magnesium deficiency. The remedial effects of supplemental green tea extract with supplemental magnesium and niacin would seem worthy of study. Add in some vitamin D and other nutrients and one might have an Alzheimer’s treatment.
I believe a person should be able to take any medicine, treatment or device on the market without asking the government, or anybody else, for permission.
Even if a miraculous ‘cure for cancer’ were to be discovered today, millions of people would die before it ever reached the market.......................
Can’t argue with that, save for 2 points:
1. It doesn’t create a pharmaceutical product to market,
2. It presumes that the “patient” has eliminated all other auses of inflammation (it’s a minefield for most people) and is therefore like bailing a leaky boat.
But kudos for pointing it out for those of us who didn’t consider the combination as a periodic therapy for “brain maintenance etc.”…and that includes me (LONG travel day yesterday).
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