A natural combination that rejuvenates old cells in 28 days!

According to RCO News Agency, Researchers have shown how a secret weapon built into the gut, produced by eating foods like pomegranates and walnuts, can rejuvenate the immune system in middle age and protect us from cellular damage, inflammation and chronic diseases including cancer.

According to New Atlas, researchers at the Georg-Speyer-Haus Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy (Georg-Speyer-Haus) in Germany have spent many years investigating the metabolite “urolithin A” (UA), which is a natural compound produced by intestinal bacteria in response to ellagitannins consumed from foods such as pomegranates, almonds, walnuts, and some berries.

This new study follows a breakthrough in 2022; When the team found UA, it induces a biological pathway that rejuvenates the cellular powerhouses (mitochondria) in T cells, equipping these immune cells with more cancer-fighting power, but it goes beyond cancer.

It should be mentioned that the mentioned foods are rich in ellagitannins, which is a key metabolite produced in the intestine.

“We discovered three years ago that UA can potently expand a specific population of long-lived anti-tumor T cells in our laboratory models,” says Dr. Dominic Denk, principal investigator of the study and a physician at the Medical University of Frankfurt. Our goal has always been to transfer our findings from the lab to the real world.

As we age, we experience immune senescence, the gradual deterioration of the adaptive and innate immune system, increased inflammation and the occurrence of infections and diseases such as cancer. One of the main changes is the loss of naïve T cells of the immune system, which are the first line of defense against pathogens. This essentially makes our bodies less able to fight off infections and more prone to “inflammation,” which is a warning sign for the onset of age-related chronic diseases.

So if we can biologically “reprogram” T cells and equip their old, worn-out engines with new sources of power, we can essentially slow down this natural decline of the immune system and in turn suppress the negative health effects that come with it.

In a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial involving 50 healthy adults aged 45 to 70 years, participants were given UA supplements or placebo for 28 days, and immune-related health markers were assessed before and after treatment.

What the researchers found was that UA safely rejuvenates the immune system in several ways. It increased the number of good-functioning CD8+ T cells, also known as “cytotoxic T lymphocytes or CTLs,” which are important for fighting pathogens.

It was found that these cells have a protein receptor that acts as the main controller of mitochondrial biogenesis; Where cells produce new mitochondria. Participants who received uric acid supplements had less oxidative stress in cells and changes in a number of inflammatory markers.

Basically, UA stimulates mitophagy; A process that recycles and renews the energy source in cells, and significantly increased the number of young, naïve T cells. It also improves the immune system’s ability to clear harmful bacteria.

The production of UA is largely dependent on the gut microbiota, but microbial groups including Proteobacteria, Clostridium, Bifidobacterium, Eubacterium and Enterococcus faecium are believed to be involved in the degradation of bioactive polyphenols (ellagitannins) found in foods such as pomegranate.

Therefore, UA has become a popular metabolite in research, which researchers first addressed in 2019. Its effect on mitochondria has led to studies of its broad potential for health, including the use of UA to treat depression and improve muscle endurance and strength, while reducing inflammation and oxidative stress in athletes. It has even been studied as a promising treatment for obesity, where it was shown to increase brown fat burning and encourage white fat to turn brown in mice.

“This study is a critical first step and shows that UA can safely enhance immune system function in humans,” Denk says. We are particularly excited about its potential in the treatment of cancer.

While researchers have focused on UA ​​for cancer treatment, this trial suggests that its benefits go far beyond that and could be particularly useful for reducing cellular dysfunction in middle age.

Dr. Florian Greten, director of the Georg-Speer-Haus Institute, says: “This successful clinical translation is a testament to our strategy at Cancer Institute Frankfurt to combine our findings with clinical expertise and accelerate the development of new treatments that can make a real difference.”

He added: A strong immune system has far-reaching consequences. By rejuvenating immune cells, we can make life-saving cancer treatments more effective for more patients. We have already started a follow-up study in patients undergoing immunotherapy and are very keen to see if our results will have a positive impact here as well.

This research was published in the journal Nature Aging.

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