Study: Ingestion of taurine delays aging

Treating mice with taurine led to increased lifespans and healthspans, a study in Science shows. Henning Wackerhage, Professor of Exercise Biology provided data on human test subjects hinting at similar mechanisms in humans.
Photo Credit: Andreas Heddergott / TUM

Taurine deficiency is one of the driving forces in the aging process of humans and animals. This is one of the results of a study which has now been published in the prestigious journal Science. Treatment with taurine extends the lifespan of mice by 10 percent. Monkeys that receive the treatment remain healthy for longer. It is not known whether these two results apply to humans. However, the study demonstrates a link between some age-related diseases and low taurine levels.

Treating mice with taurine led to increased lifespans and healthspans, a study in Science shows. Henning Wackerhage, Professor of Exercise Biology provided data on human test subjects hinting at similar mechanisms in humans.

The researchers showed that the taurine concentration in the blood of mice, monkeys and humans decreases in old age. In blood samples taken from persons over 60, it was more than 80% lower than in children and adolescents. For the team working with Vijay Yadav, PhD, assistant professor of genetics & development at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, this led to the central question: can the aging process be slowed down by raising taurine concentrations to a “young” level?

Experiments in which animals were given doses of taurine indeed yielded significant results. A daily dose of taurine resulted in a 10-12% increase in life expectancy of mice. Worms (C. elegans) also lived longer. Both in mice and rhesus monkeys, taurine treatment also increased the ‘healthspan’. This term is used by aging researchers to describe the duration over which individuals remain healthy. The researchers have not yet identified a clear mechanism underlying the positive effects of taurine.

Published in journal: Science

Authors: P. Singh, K. Gollapalli, S. Mangiola, D. Schranner, M.A. Yusuf, M. Chamoli, S.L. Shi, B. Lopes Bastos, T. Nair, A. Riermeier, E.M. Vayndorf, J.Z. Wu, A. Nilakhe, C.Q. Nguyen, M. Muir, M.G. Kiflezghi, A. Foulger, L. Turcios-Hernandez, A. Junker, J. Devine, K. Sharan, S.J. Chinta, S. Rajput, A. Rane, P. Baumert, M. Schönfelder, F. Iavarone, G. di Lorenzo, S. Kumari, A. Gupta, R. Sarkar, C. Khyriem, A.S. Chawla, A. Sharma, N. Sarper, N. Chattopadhyay, B.K. Biswal, C. Settembre, P. Nagarajan, K.L. Targoff, M. Picard, S. Gupta, V. Velagapudi, A.T. Papenfuss, A. Kaya, M. Godinho Ferreira, B. K. Kennedy, Julie K. Andersen, G.J. Lithgow, A. Mahmood Ali, A. Mukhopadhyay, A. Palotie, G. Kastenmüller, M. Kaeberlein, H. Wackerhage, B. Pal, V.K. Yadav.

Source/Credit: Technical University of Munich

Reference Number: bio060923_02

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