Liponzuur tegen verouderen.*
Onderzoekers van het bekende Linus Pauling instituut hebben het mechanisme blootgelegd hoe liponzuur in het lichaam zijn werk doet. Liponzuur doet niet alleen het natuurlijke verdedigingssysteem van lichaamscellen activeren doch ook die systemen die met het ouder worden minder worden. Liponzuur bevordert niet alleen de bloedsomloop en het immuunsysteem doch vertraagt ook het verouderingsproces, hetgeen bij dierenproeven al tot goede resultaten heeft geleid.
Lipoic
Acid Explored As Anti-aging Compound
Researchers announced
they have identified the mechanism of action of lipoic acid, a remarkable
compound that in animal experiments appears to slow down the process of aging,
improve blood flow, enhance immune function and perform many other functions.
The findings, discussed
at the "Diet and Optimum Health" conference sponsored by the Linus
Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, shed light on how this
micronutrient might perform such a wide range of beneficial functions.
"The evidence
suggests that lipoic acid is actually a low-level stressor that turns on the
basic cellular defenses of the body, including some of those that naturally
decline with age," said Tory Hagen, an LPI researcher and associate
professor of biochemistry and biophysics at OSU. "In particular, it tends
to restore levels of glutathione, a protective antioxidant and detoxification
compound, to those of a young animal. It also acts as a strong anti-inflammatory
agent, which is relevant to many degenerative diseases."
Researchers at LPI are
studying vitamins, dietary approaches and micronutrients that may be implicated
in the aging or degenerative disease process, and say that lipoic acid appears
to be one of those with the most compelling promise. It's normally found at low
levels in green leafy vegetables, but can also be taken as a supplement.
According to Hagen,
research on the natural processes of aging, and steps that could slow it or
improve health until near the end of life, are of growing importance.
"We're coming into
the middle of an aging epidemic in the country," he said. "In a short
time more than 70 million Americans will be over 65. This is partly because of
the Baby Boom, but also people are living longer, being saved with antibiotics
and other medical treatments. In any case, it will be an unprecedented number of
elderly people in this nation."
The goal of LPI research,
Hagen said, is to address issues of "healthspan," not just lifespan --
meaning the ability to live a long life with comparatively good health and vigor,
free of degenerative disease, until very near death. The best mechanisms to
accomplish that, scientists say, have everything to do with diet, exercise,
healthy lifestyle habits and micronutrient intake.
At the moment, Hagen said,
that's not the way things appear to be headed -- diabetes is skyrocketing, about
50 percent of people over 65 have high blood pressure, heart disease often leads
to permanent disability, and almost half of the elderly people in America have
malnutrition that is easily preventable.
No single intervention
can address all of these issues, Hagen said, but one that scientists keep coming
back to is lipoic acid.
"Our studies have
shown that mice supplemented with lipoic acid have a cognitive ability, behavior,
and genetic expression of almost 100 detoxification and antioxidant genes that
are comparable to that of young animals," Hagen said. "They aren't
just living longer, they are living better -- and that's the goal we're after."
What the OSU researchers
now believe is that the role of lipoic acid is not so much a direct one to
benefit cells, but rather an indirect aid that "kick starts" declining
function in cells and helps them recover the functions that came more easily and
naturally in young animals.
In various effects,
lipoic acid appears to help restore a cellular "signaling" process
that tends to break down in older blood vessels. It reduces mitochondrial decay
in cells, which is closely linked to the symptoms of aging. With age,
glutathione levels naturally decline, making older animals more susceptible to
both free radicals and other environmental toxins -- but lipoic acid can restore
glutathione function to near normal. And the expression and function of other
genes seems to come back to life.
"We never really
expected such a surprising range of benefits from one compound," Hagen said.
"This is really unprecedented, and we're pretty excited about it."
Many other presentations
have been made at this conference on the role of diet, lifestyle and
micronutrients in health and degenerative disease, including cancer, heart
disease, neurological diseases and aging.
Note: This story has been
adapted from a news release issued by Oregon State University.