Pomegranate compound with anti-aging effects passes human trial

[dannykwells]

Just fyi, the primary endpoint was safety, so to pass it just needed to not be toxic. The secondary endpoint was a biomarker of mitochondrial health. So no clinical effects are included here.

[strainer]

That seems overly dismissive of the finding on mitochondrial activity:

" The team then assessed the efficacy of UA by looking at cellular and mitochondrial health biomarkers in the participants' blood and muscle tissue. The results were compelling: UA stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis—the process by which cells increase mitochondrial mass—in the same way as regular exercise.

UA is the only known compound that re-establishes cells' ability to recycle defective mitochondria. "

[arkades]

1) Metabolic side effects tend to be slow and subtle. Vioxx caused increased heart attacks over time. Passing a phase 1 safety trial is fine and dandy, but it’s a far cry short of long-term safety in a drug targeting metabolism, and it’s not even where most drugs fail.

2) Lab evidence for a biomarker for a metabolic process is so far short of evidence of clinical improvement that it’s a joke. I will never stop deriding studies that point to proxy markers (or in this case, proxy proxy markers) as evidence of benefit. This has been proven to be inadequate so many times, across so many different studies, that it’s just not worth talking about anymore.

This is a perfectly fine and valid phase 1 study. It says “we have identified a dose range that doesn’t immediately sicken people.” That’s what phase 1 trials do. The rest is press release hype.

[utopcell]

Do all "we have identified a dose range that doesn’t immediately sicken people” studies make it to Nature journals ?

[orbifold]

There was a pretty nice portrait in the California Sunday magazine of a billionaire (Resnick) couple who owns a lot of land and water and are producing different kinds of citrus fruits and nuts in the south of California: https://story.californiasunday.com/resnick-a-kingdom-from-du.... Lynda Resnick has been heavily promoting pomegranate juice. Of course they have a lot to gain, because they are one of the leading branded producers of pomegranate juice. With these types of studies it is always a good idea to follow the money.

[clairity]

she's the first person i thought of when i read the title of this story (i saw her speak once).

[fasteo]

Just finished reading the paper, particularly interested in the mitochondrial biogenesis part. They make several comparisons with exercise adaptations, and the authors conclude:

>>> The present study reveals that UA induces a molecular signature response, in both the plasma and skeletal muscle of humans, resembling that observed as a consequence of a regular exercise regimen.

The also selected sedentary people only (from their participant inclusion criteria). Note that this is somehow normal: I have been rejected twice in 2 clinical trials for mitochondrial myopathy because I was too fit.

>> body mass index 18-32 kg/m2 and demonstrated sedentary behavior

All the authors declare a conflict of interest with Amazentis. Nestlé just signed a partnership agreement with them [1] to help them develop the product.

I guess they are actively seeking the exercise in a pill product. If they make it, it would be one of the biggest blockbusters in the history of medicine.

[1] http://pdf.amazentis.com/pdf/Nestl%C3%A9_Health_Science_&_Am...

[TheKIngofBelAir]

pomegranates and raspberries as well

"A compound called urolithin A (UA) was the focus of the study, after previous experiments with it showed promise in extending the lifespans of worms and mice. The compound appears to fight aging by improving the function of mitochondria – the energy-producing part of a cell – in a way similar to the benefits of exercise. While it's not found naturally in any known food, biomolecules in fruits like pomegranates and raspberries do break down into UA in the human gut"

Here's the study https://sci-hub.tw/https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-01...

Yellow raspberries seems to contain bigger amounts of ellagic acid than pomegranates

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urolithin_A#Dietary_sources

[Neil44]

The Wikipedia page for the compound being discussed has a table of food and drink sources for it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urolithin_A

Not everyone’s body can create UA from these natural sources so the idea is to just make a pill for it that will work on anyone.

[Circuits]

So there are products on the market already or no one has a product on the market yet?

[gpm]

Quite possibly pomegranate... It's unclear how much it has though.

[akimball]

There are raspberries and pomegranates on the market, yes.

[arkades]

Phase 1 study. Years from market.

[dractori]

Is there a way to tell who funded this study?

[ry_ry]

Nestlé signed a deal with them at the beginning of April, according to TheKingOfBelAir's comment above, which would lead me to believe they were at least involved with the study.

Link here, to save searching. http://pdf.amazentis.com/pdf/Nestl%C3%A9_Health_Science_&_Am...