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A vitamin supplement that improves metabolism in the eye appears to slow down damage to the optic nerve in glaucoma. In glaucoma, the optic nerve is gradually damaged, leading to vision loss and, in the worst cases, blindness. High pressure in the eye drives the disease. Glaucoma researchers have long theorized the substance homocysteine is somehow relevant to understanding the disease. Now, researchers have investigated the role of homocysteine in several ways. In the current study, the researchers discovered that when rats with glaucoma were given elevated levels of homocysteine, their disease did not worsen. The researchers also found that...

Annual health checkups regularly include urine tests that serve several purposes, including checking for symptoms of kidney disease. The presence of albumin in the urine is one indicator, as is glomerular filtration rate (GFR). In diabetic nephropathy, albuminuria first appears, leading to excessive filtration and eventually a decrease in GFR. In the elderly, however, excessive filtration cannot be detected due to age-related GFR decline. To accurately assess GFR, researchers have come up with a new calculation method. The group led by Dr. Akihiro Tsuda, a lecturer, assessed 180 kidney transplant donor candidates to define a new formula for determining the...

Nerve cells that make up the gray matter in our brain allow us to perform different tasks. They are interconnected millions of times by nerve fibers running deeper in the brain, called axons. Many of these axons are wrapped by a cellular "insulating tape." The insulating cover is made of myelin, a lipid-rich substance that coats axons in up to 150 layers. Together, axons and myelin form what is known as white matter. When a signal is transmitted from one cell to the other by means of an electrical nerve impulse, it literally jumps from one node to the next....

Supplementing GlyNAC—a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine as precursors of the natural antioxidant glutathione—improved or reversed age-associated cognitive decline in old mice and improved multiple associated defects in the aging brain. Sekhar and his team worked with three groups of mice. Two groups were aged naturally side-by-side until they were 90 weeks old, which is similar to a 70-year-old person. At 90 weeks of age, both groups of old mice were evaluated for their cognitive abilities, such as remembering the correct route in a maze that leads to a food reward. These results were compared to those of young mice,...

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...

"Do differences in metabolites in the brain affect our capacity for motivation?" asks Professor Carmen Sandi. "Could nutritional interventions that can affect metabolite levels be an effective vehicle to improve motivated performance?" Sandi's group published a study that shines light into answering that question. The researchers focused on an area deep into the brain called the "nucleus accumbens." The brain is often subjected to excessive oxidative stress from its neurometabolic processes—and the question for the researchers was whether antioxidant levels in the nucleus accumbens can affect motivation. To answer the question, the scientists looked at the brain's most important antioxidant,...

Scientists have discovered a mechanism by which an area of a protein shape-shifts to convert vitamin A into a form usable by the eye's light-sensing photoreceptor cells. A previously uncharacterized area of the protein known as RPE65 spontaneously turns spiral-shaped when it encounters intracellular membranes, or thin structures that surround different parts of a cell. This shapeshifting enables RPE65 to enter the endoplasmic reticulum—a network of sac-like structures and tubes—where RPE65 performs the crucial task of vitamin A conversion. Vision occurs when light hits photoreceptor pigments called opsins, triggering a series of chemical reactions that generate signals to the brain....

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is the best overall index of kidney function. Normal GFR varies according to age, sex, and body size, and declines with age. The National Kidney Foundation recommends using the CKD-EPI Creatinine Equation (2021) to estimate GFR. NKF and the American Society of Nephrology have convened a Task Force to focus on the use of race to estimate GFR.

A randomized, double blind human clinical trial reveals that supplementation with GlyNAC—a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine—improves many age-associated defects in older humans and powerfully promotes healthy aging. This is relevant because until now, there have been no solutions toward improving many of these age-related declines in people. The study shows that older humans taking GlyNAC for 16-weeks improved many characteristic defects of aging. This includes oxidative stress, glutathione deficiency and multiple aging hallmarks affecting mitochondrial dysfunction, mitophagy, inflammation, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, genomic damage, stem cell fatigue and cellular senescence. These were associated with improvements in muscle strength, gait...

Major depression in older adults is very common, disabling, and increases the risk of many diseases of aging, including Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, cardiovascular issues and even mortality. Many older adults with depression do not experience full resolution of their depressive symptoms with antidepressant treatment. Improving or achieving full resolution of depression in older adults is a major clinical challenge, and approximately 50% of patients experience persistent depressive symptoms after antidepressant treatment. The persistence of depressive symptoms becomes a source of depleted psychological well-being, increased disability, accelerated cognitive decline, and premature aging in older adults. Therefore, identifying the mechanisms...

A drug typically used to treat enlarged prostates and high blood pressure has shown promise as a potential new therapy for motor neuron disease (MND)—also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—according to a new study. MND is a group of rare diseases that destroy nerve cells known as motor neurons, causing patients to slowly lose function of their muscles. In studies using zebrafish, mice and stem cell models, experts have demonstrated that the drug terazosin protects against the death of motor neurons by increasing their energy production. Researchers say the drug could help to slow the progression of a disease...

In mice, inflammation in early to mid-life leads to a permanent decline in functional blood stem cells. The ability of the blood stem cells to regenerate was suppressed for at least one year after challenge with inflammation, suggesting that infection and inflammation may act as a prominent driver of age-associated functional decline in tissues. Blood stem cells in the bone marrow provide a lifelong replenishment of the different cell types making up the blood system. In addition, they are also of capable of making new stem cells. In older people, diseases of the hematopoietic system often occur, such as anemia...

Immature Blood Cells Leukemia Researchers have discovered potential new drugs that work in concert with other drugs to deliver a deadly one-two punch to leukemia. New study highlights potential of mitochondria-targeted chemotherapies. Scientists have discovered promising new drugs that work in concert with other drugs to deliver a deadly one-two punch to leukemia. The researchers are from Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Although the potential drugs are still years away from being tested in cancer patients, a study published recently in the journal Leukemia underscores their potential and the innovative methods that led to...

Myself and four of my friends recently returned from Las Vegas after a golf/guys trip. We left from Austin on Thursday the 16th and returned on Sunday the 19th. One of the guys, the one I shared a room with was not feeling great on Sunday when we were heading back to Austin. I attributed it to a hangover, but on Monday, he sent out a text to the group that he had Covid. After getting that news, we all took tests and only one other guy tested positive. On Thursday another started feeling bad and he retested positive. The...

Background/Aim: Increased oxidative stress plays a crucial role in pathogenesis of various diseases. The present study aims to investigate glutathione reductase (GR) and malondialdehyde (MDA) enzymes as markers of oxidative stress mechanisms in lumbar disc degeneration disease (LDDD). Patients and Methods: The study group consisted of 39 patients diagnosed with LDD and 37 healthy individuals in the control group. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to determine serum GR and MDA levels in the two study groups. Results: Serum GR levels were significantly lower (p=0.008), while MDA levels were significantly higher in the patient group compared to the...

A pilot human clinical trial conducted by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reveals that supplementation with GlyNAC—a combination of glycine and N-acetylcysteine as precursors of the natural antioxidant glutathione—could improve many age-associated defects in older humans. The results of this study show that older humans taking GlyNAC for 24 weeks saw improvements in many characteristic defects of aging, including glutathione deficiency, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction, body fat, genomic toxicity, muscle strength, gait speed, exercise capacity and cognitive function. The benefits declined after stopping supplementation for 12 weeks. GlyNAC supplementation was well tolerated during the...

"Just like a car is subject to wear and tear over many years of use, limiting how long it works well, the natural aging process can progressively deteriorate the body and limit lifespan," said Rajagopal Sekhar. His work contributes to providing a better understanding of how glutathione deficiency, increased oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and multiple additional hallmark defects of aging contribute to the aging process and how they can be reversed with GlyNAC supplementation. "We were excited to find that the mice that received GlyNAC lived 24% longer than those that did not receive GlyNAC," Sekhar said. "We next wanted...

Age-associated muscle decline can start as early as 40 years old and there are currently no effective interventions to counteract it other than exercise. A new milestone study showed that daily intake of Amazentis' proprietary Urolithin A, Mitopure, significantly improved muscle strength by 12% after four months. These findings further validate Mitopure's benefits for muscle and mitochondrial health and show it is safe and well tolerated. Mitopure works by supporting the cells' ability to renew their powerplants, the mitochondria, during the aging process. Muscles have a high demand for energy and there are a very large number of mitochondria in...

Researchers have investigated the effect of infection with COVID-19 on the levels of oxidative stress, oxidant damage and glutathione, the most abundant physiological antioxidant. Compared to healthy age-matched individuals whose samples were taken before the pandemic started in 2019, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had significantly increased levels of oxidative stress and oxidant damage, and markedly reduced levels of glutathione. The results suggest that supplementation with GlyNAC, a combination of glutathione precursors previously shown to reduce oxidative stress and oxidant damage and increase glutathione as well as improve health indicators such as inflammation, might be beneficial to COVID-19 patients. However, GlyNAC...