Study challenges taurine as a biomarker of aging

Analysis in animals and people has instructed low ranges of taurine could also be a driver for growing old, which has led to discussions about whether or not taurine is an growing old biomarker. Now, a complete research involving longitudinal information from people, monkeys, and mice reveals that taurine ranges within the blood don’t constantly decline with age, and that ranges of taurine range extra by elements distinctive to every particular person than primarily based on growing old.

These outcomes lead the research authors – Maria Fernandez and colleagues – to conclude that “the efficacy of taurine supplementation to delay growing old or broadly deal with aging-related circumstances could also be context-dependent.” The micronutrient taurine is likely one of the most considerable amino acids in animals and is acknowledged for its wide-ranging organic roles and potential well being advantages. Some latest research, together with a June 2023 Analysis Article printed in Science, have proven that taurine ranges within the blood decline with age in organisms studied, and that taurine supplementation might delay this course of and enhance wholesome lifespan. These and different outcomes have additionally prompted discussions about whether or not taurine ranges may probably supply a blood-based biomarker for growing old.

With a view to qualify as a real biomarker of growing old, taurine should reliably change with age throughout various populations and over time, ideally evidenced via longitudinal information. Based on Fernandez and colleagues of their new paper, earlier research – principally primarily based on cross-sectional information – have yielded conflicting findings about how taurine ranges within the blood change with age.

Constructing upon this previous work, Fernandez et al. carried out complete longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses of taurine ranges in three distinct giant human cohorts, rhesus monkeys, and mice throughout a broad age vary. They discovered that circulating taurine concentrations both stay steady or improve with age in wholesome people, and that variations in taurine ranges had been extra influenced by particular person variations, weight-reduction plan, intercourse, and species than by growing old itself. The findings additionally revealed that associations between taurine and practical indicators of well being, comparable to muscle energy and physique weight, diverse relying on context and species. The findings didn’t constantly help a causal hyperlink between declining taurine and growing old. Based mostly on these findings, Fernandez et al. conclude that taurine shouldn’t be a dependable biomarker of growing old and that its potential as an anti-aging remedy is extra probably context-specific quite than common.