AsianScientist (Oct. 5, 2018) – A team of scientists in China has found that the amino acid serine can reduce age-related obesity and oxidative stress. They published their findings in Frontiers in Endocrinology.
Aging is a complex process of progressive decline in overall physiological functions, resulting in a diminished capacity to resist damage and accompanied by an increased susceptibility to diseases and risk of death. Researchers have hypothesized that mitochondrial dysfunction caused by over-accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during cellular respiration is one of the inducers of aging.
Previous studies have demonstrated that serine exerts strong effects on the clearance of ROS in many rodent models of disease. The effects of serine administration on oxidative stress during aging is less well understood.
In the present study, researchers at the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a six-month experiment to explore the effects of serine administration on aging. They dissolved various concentrations of serine in water and administered the water to 18-month-old mice.
The researchers found that mice receiving a 0.5 percent (weight/volume) serine solution accumulated significantly less body fat and were less prone to obsesity. Mice drinking the serine solution also had lower levels of ROS and lower activity of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase in the hypothalamus, indicating that they experienced less oxidative stress.
Moreover, the researchers noted higher levels of expression a gene involved in glucose and fat metabolism and lower activity of a gene involved in inflammation and oxidative stress in mice that drank serine-laced water.
“Our findings suggest that serine has the potential to be used in the prevention of age-related obesity and oxidative stress,” said Dr. Zhou Xihong of the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture.
The article can be found at: Zhou et al. (2018) Long-Term L-Serine Administration Reduces Food Intake and Improves Oxidative Stress and Sirt1/NFκB Signaling in the Hypothalamus of Aging Mice.
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Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences; Photo: Shutterstock.
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