Urolithin A found in pomegranates may improve muscle strength and endurance during aging

In continuation of my update on Urolithin A

Amazentis SA, an innovative life sciences company applying scientific breakthroughs in nutrition to manage health conditions linked to aging, announced today a collaborative publication in Nature Medicine with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), demonstrating that the Company's lead product candidate, urolithin A, improves mitochondrial and muscle function, resulting in enhanced muscle strength and endurance during aging. Amazentis is presently evaluating urolithin A in a first human clinical trial with results expected in 2017.

Urolithin A is generated by gut microflora as a natural metabolite of ellagitannins, a class of compounds found in the pomegranate and other fruits and nuts. "We are excited to publish the first data that demonstrate the effects of this gut metabolite on mitochondrial and muscle function," commented Johan Auwerx, Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, and lead author. "We believe this research is a milestone in current anti-aging efforts, which have previously focused on traditional pharmaceutical modalities, and illustrates the opportunity of rigorously tested nutritional bioactive agents that we consider to have outstanding potential for human health."

Urolithin A: a potent gut metabolite to rejuvenate mitochondria and reverse muscle aging

Oral administration of urolithin A leads to an improved mitochondrial function by stimulating mitophagy, a process by which damaged mitochondria are recycled to permit a renewal with healthy mitochondria.

"Mitophagy declines in cells as we age, and the reduction in mitochondrial function in the muscles of the elderly is thought to be one of the main causes of age-related muscle impairment. We believe our research, uncovering the health benefits of urolithin A, holds promise in reversing muscle aging," stated Patrick Aebischer, co-author on the article, EPFL President and Chairman and co-founder of Amazentis.

The results are being reported in the current issue of Nature Medicine in an article titled, "Urolithin A induces mitophagy and prolongs lifespan in C. elegans and increases muscle function in rodents".

Age-related muscle decline: a compelling market opportunity for urolithin A

Declining skeletal muscle mass and the resulting loss of strength are hallmarks of aging. These changes can become debilitating and lead to a condition termed sarcopenia, which is thought to affect 30% of those over 60 years old and greater than 50% of individuals over 80 years. Current estimates in the United States project there will be greater than 75 million adults over 60 years by the year 2020.

The resulting reductions in quality of life and independence as a result of muscle decline constitute a growing healthcare issue in the aging population. There are currently no pharmaceutical therapies to treat age-related decline in muscle function and sarcopenia. Nutritional strategies have had limited impact to date, and new scientifically validated solutions are urgently needed.

Upon consumption of pomegranate juice, compounds known as ellagitannins are broken down in the stomach and then transformed by intestinal bacteria into urolithin A. This biotransformation has been shown to vary widely across individuals, with some showing high or low conversion rates, while others have different compositions of microflora and are unable to perform the conversion. Consequently, supplementing individuals with products designed to deliver carefully calibrated doses of urolithin A can overcome this natural diversity in gut microflora found in the general population.

Amazentis has established a technology portfolio and proprietary knowhow around urolithin A, enabling the manufacture and development of advanced nutrition products for oral delivery.

Chris Rinsch, Ph.D., a co-author and CEO and co-founder of Amazentis, commented, "Based on the rigorous science being published in Nature Medicine, we have advanced our lead product delivering urolithin A into clinical trials. We believe that this discovery will open the door to a new approach for managing muscle decline by rejuvenating mitochondria. Our vision is to translate breakthrough scientific discoveries in nutrition into clinically validated consumer health products that address today's unmet needs in an aging population."

Eating raspberries improves function of cells lining blood vessels, research shows

In continuation of my update on Raspberry

New research led by Dr Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, School of Life Course Sciences, shows that eating red raspberries improves the function of the cells that line blood vessels.

Endothelial cells form the interior lining of our blood and lymphatic vessels. They act as a barrier between the blood or lymph and the surrounding body tissue as well as playing key roles in blood clotting and regulating blood pressure amongst other things. Sometimes these cells stop working efficiently (called endothelial dysfunction) which is thought to be a significant factor in the development of cardiovascular disease.

Dr Rodriguez-Mateos and her colleagues studied ten, healthy male volunteers aged 18-35 years. Participants were randomly given drinks containing no, 200g or 400g of raspberries. Researchers monitored chemicals in their blood and urine as well as their blood pressure and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery: a measure of how the artery widens when blood flow increases.

The results showed a significant increase in FMD for participants that drank raspberry-containing drinks. The effect lasted for at least 24 hours and there was also a correlating increase in the levels of urolithin metabolites found in their blood. These are produced by bacteria in the gut as ellagitannins, a chemical found in raspberries, are digested. Researchers believe that ellagitannins could therefore be beneficial to vascular health.

If the change in FMD seen could be sustained for long enough, it would reduce a person's risk of developing cardiovascular disease by up to 15%. Further studies are needed to establish whether these results translate into long-term health benefits in the general population and whether red raspberries and other foods rich in ellagitannins (such as strawberries, pomegranate or nuts) should be included as part of a healthy diet to help prevent cardiovascular disease.

Speaking of the findings Dr Rodriguez-Mateos said:

'Although more studies are needed to confirm our findings, we are very excited about the potential role of raspberries and ellagitannins in cardiovascular disease prevention. Following up on this study, we are now investigating the long-term benefits of ellagitannins in a larger group of healthy individuals and we are also looking at how our gut microbiota may have an impact on their health benefits.

More : https://www.kcl.ac.uk/lsm/schools/life-course-sciences/news-events/newsrecords/2018/could-eating-raspberries-prevent-cardiovascular-disease.aspx

Pomegranates May Prevent Growth of Breast cancer cells.....

We know that Pomegranate aril juice provides about 16% of an adult's daily vitamin C requirement per 100 ml serving, and is a good source of vitamin B₅ (pantothenic acid), potassium and antioxidant polyphenols.  The most abundant polyphenols in pomegranate juice are the hydrolyzable tannins called punicalagins which have free-radical scavenging properties in laboratory experiments. Punicalagins are absorbed into the human body and may have dietary value as antioxidants. Other phytochemicals include polyphenols catechins, gallocatechins, and anthocyanins such as prodelphinidins, delphinidin, cyanidin, and pelargonidin.   Many food and dietary supplement makers have found advantages of using pomegranate phenolic extracts as ingredients in their products instead of the juice. One of these extracts is ellagic acid which may become bioavailable only after parent molecule punicalagins are metabolized. However, ingested ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not accumulate in the blood in significant quantities and is rapidly excreted. Accordingly, ellagic acid from pomegranate juice does not appear to be biologically important in vivo.

Now researchers lead by Dr Shiuan Chen, director of the Division of Tumour Cell Biology, and Dr Lynn Adams, a research fellow at the centre's Beckman Research Institute have found that Pomegranates contain a group of compounds called ellagitannins ( glucosidesof elligacic acid) may prevent the growth of breast cancer cells. Researchers tried to determine whether chemicals in pomegranates could block the action of an enzyme called aromatase. Aromatase plays a key role in driving the growth of some forms of breast cancer by helping the body produce the female sex hormone oestrogen. Breast cancer drugs like anastrozole are designed to block its action.

The researchers screened ten ellagitannin-like compounds and found that one in particular, Urolithin B, (see above structure) significantly inhibited breast cancer cell growth in the laboratory. Its interesting to note that phytochemicals in pomegranates to exhibit this property (earlier the same authors have reported the inhibition of aromatase by grapes (phytochemicals).

Though further studies like in vivo are essential to further substantiate the in vitro studies (relatively high levels of ellagitannin compounds were required to demonstrate an anti-proliferative effect on cultured breast cancer cells) are essential (because of the fact that  the ellagitannins are not well absorbed into blood when provided in the diet), still in my opinion its a good finding......

^{Ref : http://cancerpreventionresearch.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/3/1/108}