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Spermidine to the rescue for an aging heart

Nature Medicine volume 22, pages 1389–1390 (2016)Cite this article

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A recent study shows that spermidine has beneficial effects on health and lifespan in mice, and that these effects are the result of improved cardiovascular function. Similar effects of spermidine on humans are supported by epidemiological studies.

Spermidine is a polyamine that is present in our diet and is essential for the proper function of many metabolic processes. Polyamines are involved in nearly every cellular function, including the activation of autophagy, DNA stability, transcription, translation and apoptosis, among others2. In their study, Eisenberg et al.1 expand their previous observations in yeast, flies and worms, in which they showed that lifespan and health span can be extended through the induction of autophagy by spermidine3. Spermidine also delayed both age-associated memory loss and motor impairment in flies. Furthermore, it has been shown that autophagy is required for the prevention of cardiomyopathy associated with age4. As of now, calorie restriction is the most robust nongenetic intervention known to extend lifespan in invertebrates and mammals, which it does by improving mitochondrial respiratory efficiency and delaying age-associated diseases. Different natural compounds considered to be calorie-restriction mimetics, such as resveratrol, rapamycin, acarbose and metformin, can also increase health span in mammals5.

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Figure 1: The effects of spermidine on aging and cardiovascular health.

Katie Vicari/Springer Nature

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rafael de Cabo is at the National Institute on Aging, US National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.,

    Rafael de Cabo

  2. Pácido Navas is at Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, CABD-CSIC, CIBERER, Instituto Carlos III, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain.,

    Pácido Navas

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  1. Rafael de Cabo
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  2. Pácido Navas
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Correspondence to Rafael de Cabo.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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de Cabo, R., Navas, P. Spermidine to the rescue for an aging heart. Nat Med 22, 1389–1390 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4243

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