DBT-NII researchers have observed that Taurine deficiency may be a driver of aging in animals.
A multi-national, collaborative study-led by Dr Vijay K. Yadav from Columbia University and involving the National Institute of Immunology and other institutes-now shows the deficiency of taurine is a driver of aging. The group found that taurine abundance decreases substantially with age in the bloodstream of mice, monkeys, and humans. This observation led the group to investigate whether a reversal of this deficiency through once-daily oral taurine supplementation affects health span and life span in different species. In the mouse taurine supplementation from middle-ages increased life span by 10 to 12%. In Caenorhabditis elegans, taurine supplementation increased the average life span by 10 to 23%. Taurine-fed mice not only lived longer they were also healthier compared with untreated mice with improved bone and muscle strength, memory, and immune function. Similar health effects were reported in rhesus monkeys. At a cellular level, taurine promoted health by regulating several hallmarks of aging; Taurine reduced senescence, suppressed consequences of telomerase deficiency, mitochondrial dysfunction, DNA damage, and inflammation.
In aged humans, the group showed that low levels of taurine are associated with poor health such as obesity, hypertension, inflammation, and diabetes. Moreover, taurine levels increased with a bout of exercise, which is known to improve many aging-related variables. Together, these studies suggest that taurine deficiency is a driver of aging in several species. The next stage of this research is us, humans. Dr. Yadav is leading the efforts to put together an international consortium to test through a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial whether taurine delays the pace of biological aging in humans as well as it does in other species.
