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http://www.impactaging.com/papers/v3/n5/full/100322.html
Abstract
Malnutrition is common among older persons, with important consequences increasing frailty and morbidity and reducing health expectancy. On the contrary, calorie restriction (CR, a low-calorie dietary regimen with adequate nutrition) slows the progression of age-related diseases and extends the lifespan of many species. Identification of strategies mimicking key CR mechanisms - increased mitochondrial respiration and reduced production of oxygen radicals - is a hot topic in gerontology. Dietary supplementation with essential and/or branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) exerts a variety of beneficial effects in experimental animals and humans and has been recently demonstrated to support cardiac and skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis, prevent oxidative damage, and enhance physical endurance in middle-aged mice, resulting in prolonged survival. Here we review recent studies addressing the possible role of BCAAs in energy metabolism and in the longevity of species ranging from unicellular organisms to mammals. We also summarize observations from human studies supporting the exciting hypothesis that dietary BCAA enriched mixture supplementation might be a health-promoting strategy in aged patients at risk.
http://mangans.blogspot.com/
The paper's main focus is on branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) as a calorie-restriction mimetic, i.e. BCAAs can produce some of the same rejuvenating effects, mainly mitochondrial biogenesis, as calorie restriction does, without the bother of actually restricting food intake. The BCAA supplement used (details in the paper) has an amino acid profile almost exactly like whey protein. To give an idea of what it can do, following are some excerpts from the paper.
"Of interest, isoleucine, valine, and leucine changes showed the classic pattern of DAF-16 dependence, making BCAAs strong candidates for having a causal role in long life [25]."
"In search for CR-mimetic compounds, we recently investigated the effects of a balanced amino acid mixture with a high content of branched-chain and other essential amino acids (BCAA-enriched mixture, BCAAem; % composition: leucine 31.3, lysine 16.2, isoleucine 15.6, valine 15.6, threonine 8.8, cysteine 3.8, histidine 3.8, phenylalanine 2.5, methionine 1.3, tyrosine 0.7, tryptophan 0.5) which had been found to improve age-related disorders in animals and humans (see below). We demonstrated that BCAAem oral supplementation (1.5 mg/g body weight/day beginning at 9 months) increases the average, but not maximal lifespan of male mice [12]. Along with increased survival, BCAAem-supplemented middle-aged (16 months) mice showed up-regulated PGC-1? and SIRT1 expression and enhanced mitochondrialbiogenesis and function in cardiac and skeletal muscles but not in adipose tissue or liver. Further, the BCAAem preserved muscle fiber size and improved physical endurance and motor coordination in middle-aged mice [12]."
"The prolonged survival due to BCAAem supplementation was also associated with increased expression of genes involved in antioxidant defense and marked reduction of ROS production in cardiac and skeletal muscles of wild type but not eNOS-/- mice. Of interest, BCAAem-mediated effects were even more remarkable in long-term exercise-trained (running 30 to 60 min 5 days/week for 4 weeks) middle-aged mice. In young animals (4-6 months old), the mixture was ineffective."
There's much more in the paper that shows that BCAA metabolism may be intimately linked with CR and its longevity effects and that BCAA (whey) supplementation increases "healthspan", that is, it delays aging and the appearance of age-related diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. Most of the results above were reported in mice, but there have been a number of human trials that showed highly beneficial effects on functional capacity.
Abstract
Malnutrition is common among older persons, with important consequences increasing frailty and morbidity and reducing health expectancy. On the contrary, calorie restriction (CR, a low-calorie dietary regimen with adequate nutrition) slows the progression of age-related diseases and extends the lifespan of many species. Identification of strategies mimicking key CR mechanisms - increased mitochondrial respiration and reduced production of oxygen radicals - is a hot topic in gerontology. Dietary supplementation with essential and/or branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) exerts a variety of beneficial effects in experimental animals and humans and has been recently demonstrated to support cardiac and skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis, prevent oxidative damage, and enhance physical endurance in middle-aged mice, resulting in prolonged survival. Here we review recent studies addressing the possible role of BCAAs in energy metabolism and in the longevity of species ranging from unicellular organisms to mammals. We also summarize observations from human studies supporting the exciting hypothesis that dietary BCAA enriched mixture supplementation might be a health-promoting strategy in aged patients at risk.
http://mangans.blogspot.com/
The paper's main focus is on branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) as a calorie-restriction mimetic, i.e. BCAAs can produce some of the same rejuvenating effects, mainly mitochondrial biogenesis, as calorie restriction does, without the bother of actually restricting food intake. The BCAA supplement used (details in the paper) has an amino acid profile almost exactly like whey protein. To give an idea of what it can do, following are some excerpts from the paper.
"Of interest, isoleucine, valine, and leucine changes showed the classic pattern of DAF-16 dependence, making BCAAs strong candidates for having a causal role in long life [25]."
"In search for CR-mimetic compounds, we recently investigated the effects of a balanced amino acid mixture with a high content of branched-chain and other essential amino acids (BCAA-enriched mixture, BCAAem; % composition: leucine 31.3, lysine 16.2, isoleucine 15.6, valine 15.6, threonine 8.8, cysteine 3.8, histidine 3.8, phenylalanine 2.5, methionine 1.3, tyrosine 0.7, tryptophan 0.5) which had been found to improve age-related disorders in animals and humans (see below). We demonstrated that BCAAem oral supplementation (1.5 mg/g body weight/day beginning at 9 months) increases the average, but not maximal lifespan of male mice [12]. Along with increased survival, BCAAem-supplemented middle-aged (16 months) mice showed up-regulated PGC-1? and SIRT1 expression and enhanced mitochondrialbiogenesis and function in cardiac and skeletal muscles but not in adipose tissue or liver. Further, the BCAAem preserved muscle fiber size and improved physical endurance and motor coordination in middle-aged mice [12]."
"The prolonged survival due to BCAAem supplementation was also associated with increased expression of genes involved in antioxidant defense and marked reduction of ROS production in cardiac and skeletal muscles of wild type but not eNOS-/- mice. Of interest, BCAAem-mediated effects were even more remarkable in long-term exercise-trained (running 30 to 60 min 5 days/week for 4 weeks) middle-aged mice. In young animals (4-6 months old), the mixture was ineffective."
There's much more in the paper that shows that BCAA metabolism may be intimately linked with CR and its longevity effects and that BCAA (whey) supplementation increases "healthspan", that is, it delays aging and the appearance of age-related diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. Most of the results above were reported in mice, but there have been a number of human trials that showed highly beneficial effects on functional capacity.
