Take taurine for your mitochondria

This 2021 review summarized taurine’s beneficial effects on mitochondrial function: “Taurine supplementation protects against pathologies associated with mitochondrial defects, such as aging, mitochondrial diseases, metabolic syndrome, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. Potential mechanisms by which taurine exerts its antioxidant activity in maintaining mitochondria health include: Conjugates with uridine on mitochondrial tRNA to form a … Continue reading Take taurine for your mitochondria

Little evidence for mitochondrial DNA methylation

This 2018 Japanese rodent study used three different techniques to detect mitochondrial DNA methylation: “Whilst 5-methylcytosine (5mC) is a major epigenetic mark in the nuclear DNA in mammals, whether or not mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) receives 5mC modification remains controversial. We used bisulfite sequencing, McrBC digestion analyses and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, which are distinctly differing … Continue reading Little evidence for mitochondrial DNA methylation

Mitochondria interface genetic/epigenetic responses to psychological stress

This 2015 Pennsylvania rodent study found: “Mitochondria can regulate complex whole-body physiological responses, impacting stress perception at the cellular and organismal levels. Mitochondrial dysfunctions altered the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal [HPA] axis, sympathetic adrenal–medullary activation and catecholamine levels, the inflammatory cytokine IL-6, circulating metabolites, and hippocampal gene expression responses to stress. Stress-induced neuroendocrine, inflammatory, metabolic, and transcriptional responses … Continue reading Mitochondria interface genetic/epigenetic responses to psychological stress

Eat broccoli sprouts for depression, Part 3

Here are two papers published after Part 2 that cited the Part 1 rodent study, starting with a 2023 rodent study performed by several Part 1 coauthors: “We used a low-dose LPS-induced endotoxaemia model to mimic clinical characteristics of sepsis. We found that adolescent LPS treatment was sufficient to increase levels of inflammatory factor TNF-α … Continue reading Eat broccoli sprouts for depression, Part 3

Broccoli sprouts activate the AMPK pathway, Part 4

Today someone viewed the 2020 Part 3 of Broccoli sprouts activate the AMPK pathway which lacked citations at the time. Checking again, here are three citing 2022 papers, starting with a review: “Nrf2 is an important transcription factor that regulates expression of a large number of genes in healthy and disease states. Nrf2 regulates expression … Continue reading Broccoli sprouts activate the AMPK pathway, Part 4

All about walnuts’ effects

Five 2022 papers focusing on walnuts, starting with a comparison of eight tree nuts: “The aim of the present study was to examine 8 different popular nuts – pecan, pine, hazelnuts, pistachio, almonds, cashew, walnuts, and macadamia. Total content of phenolic compounds in nuts ranged from 5.9 (pistachio) to 432.9 (walnuts) mg/100 g. Walnuts had … Continue reading All about walnuts’ effects

Epigenetic effects of plasma concentrate

“We use data from a safety study (n = 18, mean age 74) to investigate whether human umbilical cord plasma concentrate (hereinafter Plasma Concentrate) injected weekly (1 ml intramuscular) into elderly human subjects over a 10-week period affects different biomarkers, including epigenetic age measures, standard clinical biomarkers of organ dysfunction, mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNA-CN), and … Continue reading Epigenetic effects of plasma concentrate

Beneficial dietary erucic acid?

A 2022 review to follow up Caution on broccoli seed erucic acid content?: “Erucic acid is found to cause cardiac lipidosis in young animals, yet direct evidence of cardiac injury does not exist for young humans. Concerns about erucic acid safety and cardiotoxicity have been published in the press which are based on scientific reports … Continue reading Beneficial dietary erucic acid?

Non-CpG methylation

Three 2022 papers on methylation epigenetic modifiers, starting with a human study focused on mitochondrial DNA non-CpG methylation involving nucleobases other than guanine (arginine, cytosine, or thymine): “We collected brain tissue in the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex from deceased individuals without (n = 39) and with (n = 14) drug use, and used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing to cover … Continue reading Non-CpG methylation

Blanching broccoli sprouts

Three 2022 papers of interest cited Sulforaphane: Its “Coming of Age” as a Clinically Relevant Nutraceutical in the Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Disease. Let’s start with a fairly straightforward analysis of blanching broccoli sprouts to produce sulforaphane: “We investigated the effect of blanching conditions to determine the optimal treatment that maximizes sulforaphane (SFN) content … Continue reading Blanching broccoli sprouts

Taurine week #7: Brain

Finishing a week’s worth of 2022 taurine research with two reviews of taurine’s brain effects: “We provide a overview of brain taurine homeostasis, and review mechanisms by which taurine can afford neuroprotection in individuals with obesity and diabetes. Alterations to taurine homeostasis can impact a number of biological processes such as osmolarity control, calcium homeostasis, … Continue reading Taurine week #7: Brain

Taurine week #2: Bile acids

Two papers investigated taurine’s integration into bile acids, starting with a review: “Bile acids (BAs) are produced from cholesterol in the liver and are termed primary BAs. Primary BAs are conjugated with glycine and taurine in the liver, and stored in the gallbladder. BAs are released from the gallbladder into the small intestine via food … Continue reading Taurine week #2: Bile acids

Exercise substitutes?

Two papers, starting with a 2022 abstract of an ongoing in vitro study with rodent cells: “Exercise mimetics may target and activate the same mechanisms that are upregulated with exercise administration alone. This is particularly useful under conditions where contractile activity is compromised due to muscle disuse, disease, or aging. Sulforaphane and Urolithin A represent … Continue reading Exercise substitutes?

Coffee improves information’s signal-to-noise ratio

This 2022 rodent study investigated caffeine’s effects: “A majority of molecular and neurophysiological studies explored the impact of acute rather than repeated exposure to caffeine. We show that, in bulk tissue analysis, chronic caffeine treatment reduced metabolic processes related to lipids, mitochondria, and translation in mouse hippocampus. In sharp contrast to what was observed in … Continue reading Coffee improves information’s signal-to-noise ratio

Eat broccoli sprouts for stress

This 2022 review subject was aspects of sulforaphane regulating stress: “Sulforaphane (SFN) shows great versatility in turning on different cellular responses. This isothiocyanate acts as a master regulator of cellular homeostasis due to its antioxidant response and cytoplasmic, mitochondrial, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein modulation. SFN acts as an effective strategy to counteract oxidative stress, … Continue reading Eat broccoli sprouts for stress