Study finds loss of Menin helps drive the aging process, and dietary supplement can reverse it in mice (D-Serine)

Medical Xpress / Public Library of Science / PLoS Biology ^ | March 16, 2023 | Lige Leng et al

[ConservativeMind]

Decline in the hypothalamic Menin may play a key role in aging, according to a study. The findings reveal a previously unknown driver of physiological aging, and suggest that supplementation with a simple amino acid may mitigate some age-related changes.

Leng and colleagues showed that Menin, a hypothalamic protein, is a key inhibitor of hypothalamic neuroinflammation. They observed that the level of Menin in the hypothalamus, but not astrocytes or microglia, declines with age.

Another change was a decline in levels of the amino acid D-serine, known to be a neurotransmitter and sometimes used as a dietary supplement. The authors showed this decline was due to loss of activity of an enzyme involved in its synthesis (which was in turn regulated by Menin).

The authors delivered the gene for Menin into the hypothalamus of elderly (20-month-old) mice. Thirty days later, they found improved skin thickness and bone mass, along with better learning, cognition, and balance, which correlated with an increase in D-serine within the hippocampus, a central brain region important for learning and memory.

Remarkably, similar benefits on cognition, though not on the peripheral signs of aging, could be induced by three weeks of dietary supplementation with D-serine.

Nonetheless, Leng said, "We speculate that the decline of Menin expression in the hypothalamus with age may be one of the driving factors of aging, and Menin may be the key protein connecting the genetic, inflammatory, and metabolic factors of aging. D-serine is a potentially promising therapeutic for cognitive decline."

Leng adds, "Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) Menin signaling diminished in aged mice, which contributes to systemic aging phenotypes and cognitive deficits. The effects of Menin on aging are mediated by neuroinflammatory changes and metabolic pathway signaling, accompanied by serine deficiency in VMH, while restoration of Menin in VMH reversed aging-related phenotypes."

[ConservativeMind]

I agree.

[KittyKares]

Thank you for discussing our option of GlyNAC.

[nagant]

I’ve learned to be extremely careful of glycerine intake. I’m allergic. I don’t know if it’s just me, or if it’s just my age. I attribute the allergy to G3PDH reduction failure. But serine supplementation seems to enter the picture.

https://www.beingpatient.com/serine-supplements-efficacy-brain-health/

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.....a new study led by scientists from the University of California, San Diego casts doubt on serine’s effects and warns individuals to be careful if using the supplement.....

.....In the serine supplementation study in particular, the researchers found that the amount of a certain enzyme called phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PHGDH) in the brain of aging individuals is actually associated with Alzheimer’s risk.

The enzyme PHGDH is responsible for making serine in the body, suggesting serine is linked to cognitive decline. The exact nature of that link remains unclear, but the research team not only found no evidence that giving your brain extra serine was helpful — they found that the serine naturally produced by the brain is not associated with improving brain health, and in fact, may even be part of what propels cell death and cognitive decline.....
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[ConservativeMind]

No one is talking about glycerin in this study.

It is “glycine.”

[ConservativeMind]

The root paper you reference on L- and D-serine is available, here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9531314/

It appears a defect in an early enzyme is common in Alzheimer’s patients, but can also be in people that do not have Alzheimer’s. Adding any form of serine, to some seemingly unknown level of supplementation, can cause issues that encourage Alzheimer’s issues for people with this defect.

Interesting, and worth noting for all reading this.

Thank you.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

CM thank you for these posts! Already have glycine and the NAC!