Alpha-Ketoglutarate Supplementation Modestly Increases Life Span in Mice

Alpha-ketoglutarate supplementation has been shown to modestly extend life span and improve measures of health in old mice; the publicity materials here accompany the formal release of that paper. Recently, a novel epigenetic clock was used to suggest that alpha-ketoglutarate supplementation in old humans can reduce epigenetic measures of aging, though since this was a novel epigenetic clock, those results should not yet be taken too seriously. Confirming studies are needed, assessing other metrics. Alpha-ketoglutarate supplementation may act to produce benefits via reductions in excessive inflammatory signaling. Given the sizable influence that the chronic inflammation of aging has on the development of disease and dysfunction, any approach to achieve that goal should be at least in principle interesting. Effect size matters, of course, and here in mice it is both modest and gender-specific, usually signs that effects in humans will be small at best. A metabolite produced by the body increases lifespan and dramatically compresses late-life morbidity in mice Studies show that blood plasma levels of alpha-ketaglutarate (AKG) can drop up to 10-fold as we age. Fasting and exercise, already shown to promote longevity, increase the production of AKG. AKG is not found in the normal diet, making supplementation the only feasible way to restore its levels. AKG is involved in many fundamental physiological processes. It contributes to metabolism, providing energ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs