npj agingPub Date : 2025-04-12DOI: 10.1038/s41514-025-00218-z
Carmen Marino, Alberto Imarisio, Clara Gasparri, Enza Napolitano, Anna Di Maio, Micol Avenali, Gabriele Buongarzone, Caterina Galandra, Marta Picascia, Manuela Grimaldi, Francesco Errico, Mariangela Rondanelli, Anna Maria D'Ursi, Enza Maria Valente, Alessandro Usiello
{"title":"1H-NMR-based metabolomics identifies disrupted betaine metabolism as distinct serum signature of pre-frailty.","authors":"Carmen Marino, Alberto Imarisio, Clara Gasparri, Enza Napolitano, Anna Di Maio, Micol Avenali, Gabriele Buongarzone, Caterina Galandra, Marta Picascia, Manuela Grimaldi, Francesco Errico, Mariangela Rondanelli, Anna Maria D'Ursi, Enza Maria Valente, Alessandro Usiello","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00218-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-025-00218-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Increasing evidence suggests that frailty results from a complex age-associated metabolic decline. Here, we investigated the serum metabolomic profile of a well-characterized cohort of elderly subjects encompassing the whole fit-to-frail continuum. Enrichment analyses revealed a complex dysregulation of amino acids and energy metabolism in both pre-frail and frail participants. Remarkably, upregulated betaine levels emerged as a specific biochemical signature of pre-frail females, holding promise for the development of novel targeted interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11992162/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144063712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Vegetarian diet and healthy aging among Chinese older adults: a prospective study.","authors":"Guliyeerke Jigeer, Kaiyue Wang, Yuebing Lv, Katherine L Tucker, Xiuhua Shen, Fan Chen, Liang Sun, Xiaoming Shi, Yaqi Li, Xiang Gao","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00213-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41514-025-00213-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Vegetarian diets are increasingly popular worldwide, but their impact on healthy aging in older adults remains unclear. This study examined the association between vegetarian diets and healthy aging among 2,888 healthy older Chinese adults from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Dietary patterns (vegan, ovo-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, omnivorous) were derived from a simplified non-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Over a median follow-up of 6 years, after accounting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, vegetarians had lower odds of achieving healthy aging compared to omnivores (adjusted OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.47-0.89), with consistent results across sensitivity analyses and individual health components. Additionally, the health effects of vegetarian diets may vary depending on diet quality, with vegetarians of higher diet quality not significantly differing in terms of overall healthy aging and individual outcomes when compared to omnivores. Accordingly, this finding highlights modest inclusion of animal-based foods may improve the overall health status of healthy older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"25"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11961757/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143766273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj agingPub Date : 2025-03-30DOI: 10.1038/s41514-025-00215-2
Suresh Poudel, Chia-Lung Chuang, Him K Shrestha, Fabio Demontis
{"title":"Pan-PTM profiling identifies post-translational modifications associated with exceptional longevity and preservation of skeletal muscle function in Drosophila.","authors":"Suresh Poudel, Chia-Lung Chuang, Him K Shrestha, Fabio Demontis","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00215-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41514-025-00215-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Skeletal muscle weakness is a major component of age-associated frailty, but the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. Drosophila has emerged as a useful model for studying skeletal muscle aging. In this organism, previous lab-based selection established strains with increased longevity and reduced age-associated muscle functional decline compared to a parental strain. Here, we have applied a computational pipeline (JUMPptm) for retrieving information on 8 post-translational modifications (PTMs) from the skeletal muscle proteomes of 2 long-lived strains and the corresponding parental strain in young and old age. This pan-PTM analysis identified 2470 modified sites (acetylation, carboxylation, deamidation, dihydroxylation, mono-methylation, oxidation, phosphorylation, and ubiquitination) in several classes of proteins, including evolutionarily conserved muscle contractile proteins and metabolic enzymes. PTM consensus sequences further highlight the amino acids that are enriched adjacent to the modified site, thus providing insight into the flanking residues that influence distinct PTMs. Altogether, these analyses identify PTMs associated with muscle functional decline during aging and that may underlie the longevity and negligible functional senescence of lab-evolved Drosophila strains.</p>","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11955564/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143756965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj agingPub Date : 2025-03-28DOI: 10.1038/s41514-025-00210-7
Felipe Mendes Delpino, Alexandre Dias Porto Chiavegatto Filho, Juliana Lustosa Torres, Fabíola Bof de Andrade, Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa, Bruno Pereira Nunes
{"title":"Predicting all-cause mortality with machine learning among Brazilians aged 50 and over: results from The Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSI-Brazil).","authors":"Felipe Mendes Delpino, Alexandre Dias Porto Chiavegatto Filho, Juliana Lustosa Torres, Fabíola Bof de Andrade, Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa, Bruno Pereira Nunes","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00210-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41514-025-00210-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We aimed to develop a machine-learning model to predict all-cause mortality among Brazilians aged 50 and over, incorporating demographic, health, and lifestyle characteristics as predictors. We analyzed data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil), waves 1 and 2 (2015-2021), a nationally representative sample from 70 municipalities across Brazil's five regions. Nine algorithms, including Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, XGBOOST, and Logistic Regression, were tested on 9412 participants (54.6% female), with 970 deaths recorded over approximately five years. Using 59 predictor variables, we assessed performance with metrics like AUC, accuracy, precision, and F1-Score. Random Forest excelled with an AUC of 0.92 (95% CI: 0.90-0.94). SHAP analysis highlighted age, sex, BMI, medication use, and physical activity as top predictors. Integrating these models into healthcare systems can improve policy planning and enable targeted interventions, ultimately fostering better health outcomes for aging populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"22"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11953239/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143743878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj agingPub Date : 2025-03-26DOI: 10.1038/s41514-025-00214-3
Hyejin Shin, Haeseung Lee, Musun Park, Kyuwon Son, Myunggyo Lee, Ami Lee, Seongwon Cha, Sooseong You
{"title":"Butylphthalide identified via Samul-tang-induced transcriptomic signatures improves oocyte quality in aged mice.","authors":"Hyejin Shin, Haeseung Lee, Musun Park, Kyuwon Son, Myunggyo Lee, Ami Lee, Seongwon Cha, Sooseong You","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00214-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41514-025-00214-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Samul-tang (SM) is a traditional prescription widely used in clinical practice for the management of gynecological diseases, especially for menstrual regulation and infertility treatment. We previously reported its efficacy in increasing mature oocyte production and improving ovarian reserves, potentially regulated by rat sarcoma virus (Ras) signaling in the ovaries of aged mice. Although the main ingredients of SM are known, the bioactive compounds responsible for protecting ovarian function during aging remain unidentified. This study aimed to identify the active compounds that significantly contribute to the therapeutic potential of SM against age-related decline in ovarian function. The combination of butylphthalide and oleanolic acid improved mature oocyte production similar to that in SM-administered aged mice. Subsequently, we identified butylphthalide as an active compound that mimicked SM's effect on enhancing ovarian reserve. This study introduces a novel strategy for identifying active compounds in multi-component herbal medicines by evaluating compound combinations in an in vivo model, offering promising therapeutic avenues for age-related female infertility through targeted gene expression modulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11947449/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143723054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj agingPub Date : 2025-03-24DOI: 10.1038/s41514-025-00211-6
Chengxun Su, Peter Wang, Nigel Foo, Dean Ho
{"title":"Optimizing metabolic health with digital twins.","authors":"Chengxun Su, Peter Wang, Nigel Foo, Dean Ho","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00211-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41514-025-00211-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A hallmark of subclinical metabolic decline is impaired metabolic flexibility, which refers to the ability to switch fuel utilization between glucose and fat according to energy demand and substrate availability. Herein, we propose optimizing metabolic health with digital twins that model an individual's metabolic flexibility profile to gamify the process of health optimization and predict long-term health outcomes. We explore key characteristics of this approach from technological and socioeconomical perspectives, with the objective of reducing the burden from metabolic disorders through driving behavior change and early detection of metabolic decline.</p>","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"20"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11933362/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143702465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Author Correction: The annual rate of coronary artery calcification with combination therapy with a PCSK9 inhibitor and a statin is lower than that with statin monotherapy.","authors":"Yuichi Ikegami, Ikuo Inoue, Kaiji Inoue, Yuichi Shinoda, Shinichiro Iida, Seiichi Goto, Takanari Nakano, Akira Shimada, Mitsuhiko Noda","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00208-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41514-025-00208-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11923195/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143665804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
npj agingPub Date : 2025-03-16DOI: 10.1038/s41514-025-00209-0
Ellen Walter, Gabrielle Angst, Justin Bollinger, Linh Truong, Elena Ware, Eric S Wohleb, Yanbo Fan, Chenran Wang
{"title":"Atg5 in microglia regulates sex-specific effects on postnatal neurogenesis in Alzheimer's disease.","authors":"Ellen Walter, Gabrielle Angst, Justin Bollinger, Linh Truong, Elena Ware, Eric S Wohleb, Yanbo Fan, Chenran Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41514-025-00209-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41514-025-00209-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Female Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients display greater cognitive deficits and worse AD pathology as compared to male AD patients. In this study, we found that conditional knockout (cKO) of Atg5 in female microglia failed to obtain disease-associated microglia (DAM) gene signatures in familiar AD mouse model (5xFAD). Next, we analyzed the maintenance and neurogenesis of neural stem cells (NSCs) in the hippocampus and subventricular zone (SVZ) from 5xFAD mice with Atg5 cKO. Our data indicated that Atg5 cKO reduced the NSC number in hippocampus of female but not male 5xFAD mice. However, in the SVZ, Atg5 cKO only impaired NSCs in male 5xFAD mice. Interestingly, female 5xFAD;Fip200 cKO mice and 5xFAD;Atg14 cKO mice did not show NSC defects. These autophagy genes cKO 5xFAD mice exhibited a higher neurogenesis activity in their SVZ. Together, our data indicate a sex-specific role for microglial Atg5 in postnatal neurogenesis in AD mice.</p>","PeriodicalId":94160,"journal":{"name":"npj aging","volume":"11 1","pages":"18"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11911432/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143652839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}