Age‐associated diseases are rising to pandemic proportions, exposing the need for efficient and low‐cost methods to tackle these maladies at symptomatic, behavioral, metabolic, and physiological ...levels. While nutrition and health are closely intertwined, our limited understanding of how diet precisely influences disease often precludes the medical use of specific dietary interventions. Caloric restriction (CR) has approached clinical application as a powerful, yet simple, dietary modulation that extends both life‐ and healthspan in model organisms and ameliorates various diseases. However, due to psychological and social‐behavioral limitations, CR may be challenging to implement into real life. Thus, CR‐mimicking interventions have been developed, including intermittent fasting, time‐restricted eating, and macronutrient modulation. Nonetheless, possible side effects of CR and alternatives thereof must be carefully considered. We summarize key concepts and differences in these dietary interventions in humans, discuss their molecular effects, and shed light on advantages and disadvantages.
Can dietary modulations promote better health? The current article comprehensively reviews key concepts of dietary interventions, their clinical application and the beneficial and disadvantageous effects of caloric restriction and fasting on human health.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The increase in life expectancy has boosted the incidence of age-related pathologies beyond social and economic sustainability. Consequently, there is an urgent need for interventions that revert or ...at least prevent the pathogenic age-associated deterioration. The permanent or periodic reduction of calorie intake without malnutrition (caloric restriction and fasting) is the only strategy that reliably extends healthspan in mammals including non-human primates. However, the strict and life-long compliance with these regimens is difficult, which has promoted the emergence of caloric restriction mimetics (CRMs). We define CRMs as compounds that ignite the protective pathways of caloric restriction by promoting autophagy, a cytoplasmic recycling mechanism, via a reduction in protein acetylation. Here, we describe the current knowledge on molecular, cellular, and organismal effects of known and putative CRMs in mice and humans. We anticipate that CRMs will become part of the pharmacological armamentarium against aging and age-related cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and malignant diseases.
Madeo et al. summarize the current knowledge on the health-promoting potential of caloric restriction mimetics as a pharmacological option to ignite anti-aging effects. The authors thereby provide mechanistic details for each compound and evaluate the most recent literature on diverse models and clinical trials.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Cardiovascular diseases are the most prominent maladies in aging societies. Indeed, aging promotes the structural and functional declines of both the heart and the blood circulation system. In this ...review, we revise the contribution of known longevity pathways to cardiovascular health and delineate the possibilities to interfere with them. In particular, we evaluate autophagy, the intracellular catabolic recycling system associated with life- and health-span extension. We present genetic models, pharmacological interventions, and dietary strategies that block, reduce, or enhance autophagy upon age-related cardiovascular deterioration. Caloric restriction or caloric restriction mimetics like metformin, spermidine, and rapamycin (all of which trigger autophagy) are among the most promising cardioprotective interventions during aging. We conclude that autophagy is a fundamental process to ensure cardiac and vascular health during aging and outline its putative therapeutic importance.
Spermidine is a natural polyamine that stimulates cytoprotective macroautophagy/autophagy. External supplementation of spermidine extends lifespan and health span across species, including in yeast, ...nematodes, flies and mice. In humans, spermidine levels decline with aging, and a possible connection between reduced endogenous spermidine concentrations and age-related deterioration has been suggested. Recent epidemiological data support this notion, showing that an increased uptake of this polyamine with spermidine-rich food diminishes overall mortality associated with cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Here, we discuss nutritional and other possible routes to counteract the age-mediated decline of spermidine levels.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Highlights • Lysosomal processes associated with aging and longevity. • Executory and regulatory role of lysosomes for general and selective autophagy. • Lifespan control via lysosomal storage ...functions. • Lysosomal role in known anti-aging interventions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Caloric restriction mimetics (CRMs) are natural or synthetic compounds that mimic the health‐promoting and longevity‐extending effects of caloric restriction. CRMs provoke the deacetylation of ...cellular proteins coupled to an increase in autophagic flux in the absence of toxicity. Here, we report the identification of a novel candidate CRM, namely 3,4‐dimethoxychalcone (3,4‐DC), among a library of polyphenols. When added to several different human cell lines, 3,4‐DC induced the deacetylation of cytoplasmic proteins and stimulated autophagic flux. At difference with other well‐characterized CRMs, 3,4‐DC, however, required transcription factor EB (TFEB)‐ and E3 (TFE3)‐dependent gene transcription and mRNA translation to trigger autophagy. 3,4‐DC stimulated the translocation of TFEB and TFE3 into nuclei both in vitro and in vivo, in hepatocytes and cardiomyocytes. 3,4‐DC induced autophagy in vitro and in mouse organs, mediated autophagy‐dependent cardioprotective effects, and improved the efficacy of anticancer chemotherapy in vivo. Altogether, our results suggest that 3,4‐DC is a novel CRM with a previously unrecognized mode of action.
Synopsis
From a library of polyphenols and polyamines, the 3,4‐dimethoxychalcone (3,4‐DC) was screened and identified as a caloric restriction mimetic (CRM) that induces autophagy through TFEB and TFE3 and results in cardioprotection and improved efficacy of anticancer chemotherapy in mice.
3,4‐DC induces all hallmarks of caloric restriction mimicry, i.e. the combination of autophagy, reduced protein acetylation and absence of toxicity.
3,4‐DC induces autophagy in a TFEB‐ and TFE3‐regulated, transcription and translation‐dependent manner.
3,4‐DC causes cardioprotection and enhances anticancer effects of chemotherapy in an autophagy‐dependent fashion in vivo in mice.
From a library of polyphenols and polyamines, the 3,4‐dimethoxychalcone (3,4‐DC) was screened and identified as a caloric restriction mimetic (CRM) that induces autophagy through TFEB and TFE3 and results in cardioprotection and improved efficacy of anticancer chemotherapy in mice.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The phenomenon of aging is an intrinsic feature of life. Accordingly, the possibility to manipulate it has fascinated humans likely since time immemorial. Recent evidence is shaping a picture where ...low caloric regimes and exercise may improve healthy senescence, and several pharmacological strategies have been suggested to counteract aging. Surprisingly, the most effective interventions proposed to date converge on only a few cellular processes, in particular nutrient signaling, mitochondrial efficiency, proteostasis, and autophagy. Here, we critically examine drugs and behaviors to which life- or healthspan-extending properties have been ascribed and discuss the underlying molecular mechanisms.
The most effective antiaging interventions proposed to date converge on only a few cellular processes, in particular nutrient signaling, mitochondrial efficiency, proteostasis, and autophagy.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Fungal infections in humans: the silent crisis Kainz, Katharina; Bauer, Maria A; Madeo, Frank ...
Microbial cell,
2020-Jun-01, 2020-06-01, 20200601, Volume:
7, Issue:
6
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Annually, over 150 million severe cases of fungal infections occur worldwide, resulting in approximately 1.7 million deaths per year. Alarmingly, these numbers are continuously on the rise with a ...number of social and medical developments during the past decades that have abetted the spread of fungal infections. Additionally, the long-term therapeutic application and prophylactic use of antifungal drugs in high-risk patients have promoted the emergence of (multi)drug-resistant fungi, including the extremely virulent strain
. Hence, fungal infections are already a global threat that is becoming increasingly severe. In this article, we underline the importance of more and effective research to counteract fungal infections and their consequences.
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