Lipoic Acid Slows Down Aging

Researchers have identified the process of action of lipoic acid, an extraordinary compound that in animal studies appears to slow down the process of aging, improve blood flow, increase immune function, and perform many other functions.

The findings, presented at the Diet and Optimum Health Conference, sponsored by the Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) at Oregon State University (OSU; Corvallis, OR, USA), provides insights into 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 Dr. 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 assessing vitamins, dietary approaches, and micronutrients that may be implicated in the aging or degenerative disease process, and reported that lipoic acid appears to be one of those with the most convincing promise. It is normally found at low levels in green leafy vegetables, but can also be taken as a supplement.

According to Dr. Hagen, studies 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. 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 objective of LPI research, according to Dr. Hagen, 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, according to the investigators, have everything to do with diet, exercise, healthy lifestyle habits, and micronutrient intake.

Currently, Dr. Hagen believed that is not the way things appear to be headed--diabetes is increasing, approximately 50% of indivdiuals over 65 have high blood pressure, heart disease frequently leads to permanent disability, and nearly half of the elderly people in the United States have malnutrition that is easily preventable. No one intervention can address all of these issues, according to Dr. Hagen, 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,” Dr. 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 triggers 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 degrade 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 vulnerable to both free radicals and other environmental toxins--but lipoic acid can restore glutathione function to nearly normal. Moreover, 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,” Dr. Hagen said. "This is really unprecedented, and we're pretty excited about it.”


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Oregon State University