Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T07:51:23.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nutrition and ageing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2001

Jaime Miquel
Jaime Miquel*
Affiliation:
Department of Biotechnology, University of Alicante, C. Marqués de Campo 66, E-03700 Denia (Alicante), Spain
*
*Corresponding author: Email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The reviewed literature indicates that, even in industrialised countries, the nutrition of mature and aged subjects is often inadequate (because of deficiency or excess), which may lead to premature or pathological senescence.

Recent nutritional research on ageing laboratory animals shows that dietary restriction may be the most effective procedure to achieve along and disease-free life span, probably owing to a better protection against mitochondria-linked oxygen stress. Likewise, the experimental and clinical work from many laboratories, including our own, indicates that age-dependent changes in the cardiovascular and immune systems are linked to oxygen stress and that an adequate intake of dietary antioxidants may protect those systems against chronic degenerative syndromes in the physiopathology of which reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a key role.

The extant data indicate that the antioxidant vitamins C and E are centrally involved in defending the above two systems against ROS attack. Moreover, recent research suggests that the glutathione-related thiolic antioxidants, thiazolidine carboxylic acid (thioproline) and N-acetylcysteine, as well as the phenolic liposoluble ‘co-antioxidants’ of Curcuma longa, may have a significant protective effect against age-related atherogenesis and immune dysfunction.

Key messages from this paper are the following. (1) It is generally accepted that oxygen free radicals released in metabolic reactions play a key role in the physiopathology of ‘normal ageing’ and of many age-related degenerative diseases. (2) Consumption of adequate levels of antioxidants in the diet is essential in order to preserve health in old age. (3) A certain degree of protection against atherogenesis and immune dysfunction may be achieved by preventing vitamin E deficiency and an excessive oxidation of the glutathione-supported thiol pool.

Keywords

AgeingSenescenceFree radicalsOxygen stressAntioxidantsVitamin EGlutathioneImmunosenescenceAtherogenesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 4 , Issue 6a , December 2001 , pp. 1385 - 1388
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2001

References

1 Rosenthal, AJ, Sanders, KM, McMurtry, CT, Jacobs, MA, Thompson, DD, Gheorghiu, D, Little, KL, Adler, RA. Is malnutrition overdiagnosed in older hospitalized patients? Association between the soluble interleukin-2 receptor and serum markers of malnutrition. J. Gerontol. 1998; 53:M81–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2 Roebothan, VR, Kuman, R. Nutritional status of an elderly population. Age 1991; 14:39–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3 Miquel, J, Economos, AC, Fleming, J, Johnson, JE Jr. Mitochondrial role in cell aging. Exp. Gerontol. 1980; 15:579–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4 Miquel, J. An update on the oxygen stress–mitochondrial mutation theory of aging: genetic and evolutionary implications. Exp. Gerontol. 1998; 23:113–26.10.1016/S0531-5565(97)00060-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5 Harman, D. A theory based on free radical and radiation chemistry. J. Gerontol. 1966; 4:298–300.Google Scholar
6 Miquel, J, Quintanilha, AT, Weber, H, eds. CRC Handbook of Free Radicals and Antioxidants in Biomedicine (3 vols.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1989.Google Scholar
7 Harman, D. The aging process. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 1981; 78:7124–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8 Gerschman, R. Man's dependence on the earthly atmosphere. In: Schaeffer, KS, ed. Proceedings of the 1st Symposium on Submarine and Space Medicine. New York: MacMillan, 1962;475 [abstract].Google Scholar
9 Aspnes, LE, Lee, CM, Weindruch, R, Chung, SS, Roecker, EB, Aiken, JM. Caloric restriction reduces fiber loss and mitochondrial abnormalities in aged rat muscle. The FASEB J. 1997; 11:573–81.10.1096/fasebj.11.7.9212081CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10 Miquel, J, Economos, AC. Favorable effects of the antioxidants sodium and magnesium thiazolidine carboxylate on the vitality and life span of Drosophila and mice. Exp. Gerontol. 1979; 14:279–85.10.1016/0531-5565(79)90039-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11 Miquel, J, Ferrandiz, ML, De Juan, E, Sevila, I, Martínez, M. N-acetylcysteine protects against age-related decline of oxidative phosphorylation in liver mitochondria. Eur. J. Pharmacol., Env. Toxicol. Pharmacol. Section 1995; 292:333–5.10.1016/0926-6917(95)90041-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12 De la Fuente, M, Ferrández, M, Muñoz, F, De Juan, E, Miquel, J. Stimulation by the antioxidant thioproline of the lymphocyte functions of old mice. Mech. Ageing Dev. 1993; 68:27–36.10.1016/0047-6374(93)90137-GCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13 Miquel, J, Weber, H. Aging and increased oxidation of the sulfur pool. In: Viña, J, ed. Glutathione: Metabolism and Physiological Functions. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1990;187–92.Google Scholar
14 Chen, TS, Richie, JP Jr, Nagasawa, HT, Lang, CA. Glutathione monoethyl ester protects against glutathione deficiencies due to aging and to acetaminophen in mice. Mech. Ageing Dev. 2000; 120:127–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15 Harding, JJ, Blakytny, R, Ganea, E. Glutathione in disease. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 1996; 24:881–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16 Puri, RN, Meister, A. Transport of glutathione, as glutamylcysteinylglycyl ester, into liver and kidney. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1983; 80:5228–60.10.1073/pnas.80.17.5258CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17 Nagasawa, HT, Goon, DJW, Muldoon, WP, Zera, RT. 2-Substituted thiazolidine-4(R)-carboxylic acids as prodrugs of L-cysteine. Protection of mice against acetaminophen hepatotoxicity. J. Med. Chem. 1984; 27:591–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18 Meydani, M. Dietary antioxidants modulation of aging and inmmune–endothelial cell interaction. Mech. Ageing Dev. 1999; 11:123–32.10.1016/S0047-6374(99)00067-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19 Miquel, J, Ramírez-Boscá, A, Soler, A. Increase with age of serum lipid peroxides: implications for the prevention of atherosclerosis. Mech. Ageing Dev. 1998; 100:17–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20 Ramírez-Boscá, A, Carrión Gutiérrez, MA, Soler, A, Puerta, C, Díez, A, Quintanilla, E, Bernd, A, Miquel, J. Effects of the antioxidant turmeric on lipoprotein peroxides: implications for the prevention of atherosclerosis. Age 1997; 29:165–8.10.1007/s11357-997-0015-zCrossRefGoogle Scholar
21 Mazari, L, Lesourd, BM. Nutritional influences on immune response in healthy aged persons. Mech. Ageing Dev. 1998; 104:25–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22 Ito, Y, Kajkenova, O, Feuers, RJ, Udupa, KB, Desai, VG, Epstein, J, Hart, RW, Lipschitz, DA. Impaired glutathione peroxidase activity accounts for the age-related accumulation of hydrogen peroxides in activated human neutrophils. J. Gerontol. 1998; 53:M169–75.10.1093/gerona/53A.3.M169CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23 De la Fuente, M. Role of antioxidants in the nutrition of the elderly. Rev. Esp. Geriatr. Gerontol. 2000; 35(Suppl. 4):63–71.Google Scholar
24 Correa, R, Blanco, B, Del Río, M, Victor, V, Guayerbas, N, Medina, S, De la Fuente, M. Effect of a diet supplemented with thioproline on murine macrophage function in a model of premature aging. Biofactors 1999; 10:195–200.10.1002/biof.5520100216CrossRefGoogle Scholar
25 De la Fuente, M, Ferrández, MD, Burgos, MS, Soler, A, Prieto, A, Miquel, J. Immune function in aged women is improved by ingestion of vitamins C and E. Can. J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 1998; 76:373–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed