• 배경
  • 958명의 노인을 대상으로 2년간 종합 비타민-미네랄 보충제를 매일 복용하게 한 결과, 특정 생물학적 노화 지표가 유의미하게 늦춰진 것으로 나타났다는 연구 결과가 10일 오전 '네이처 메디신'에 발표됩니다.
    • 논문 제목: Effects of daily multivitamin–multimineral and cocoa extract supplementation on epigenetic aging clocks in the COSMOS randomized clinical trial (Nature Medicine)
    • (엠바고 10일(화) 01시 KST)
  • 많은 노인들이 비타민 B12와 같은 필수 비타민과 미네랄을 식단을 통해 충분히 섭취하지 못하고 있습니다. 이전 임상시험에서 종합 비타민-미네랄 보충제가 만성 질환을 줄이는 데 도움이 될 수 있다는 결과가 나온 적이 있습니다. 하지만 생물학적 노화에 미치는 영향은 불분명했습니다.
  • 미국 하버드대 의대 연구팀은 평균 연령 약 70세인 958명의 참가자를 대상으로 무작위 임상시험을 설계했습니다. 참가자들에게 매일 종합 비타민-미네랄 정제, 코코아 추출물 또는 위약을 복용하게 한 뒤, 2년간 추적 관찰하며 혈액 기반 DNA 노화 지표 5가지를 측정했습니다. 
  • 연구 결과, 종합 비타민-미네랄 정제를 복용한 그룹에서 사망 위험을 예측하기 위한 후성유전학적 시계 중 두 가지 지표의 연간 증가율이 각각 약 2.6개월과 1.4개월 감소한 것으로 나타났습니다. 대조군에서는 이런 효과가 나타나지 않았습니다.
    • 시험 시작 전 평균보다 빠른 생물학적 노화를 보인 사람들의 경우, 특정 지표에서 노화 감소 효과는 약 2.8개월로 더 컸습니다. 
  • 연구팀은 매일 종합 비타민-미네랄 보충제를 섭취하는 것이 생물학적 노화에 어느 정도 도움이 될 수 있으며, 특히 DNA 기반 노화 시계를 기준으로 노화가 빠르게 진행되는 사람들에게 효과적일 수 있다고 주장했습니다.
• 전문가 의견 요청 내용

  • 이런 주장 또는 연구 결과가 나오게 된 배경이나 맥락

  • 이 연구 결과가 갖는 의미, 독창성 또는 한계, 해석상 주의점
  • 영국, 호주, 스페인 SMC 의견도 첨부했습니다.

• 엠바고는 10일 01시(KST) 해제됩니다. 이후 자유롭게 활용 가능합니다.
• 되도록 원문을 그대로 활용해주시길 부탁드립니다.
• SMCK를 꼭 인용할 필요는 없습니다. 만약 인용 출처가 필요한 경우, 아래 형식을 따를 수 있습니다.
  • "ㅇㅇㅇ(전문가)는 한국과학기술미디어센터에 ㅁㅁㅁ라고 말했다."

kyungsoooh@cau.ac.kr

Dr Laura Sinclair, Lecturer in Healthcare & Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Exeter said:

On the press release:

“The press release reflects the science. I would specify “DNA modification patterns” rather than “DNA patterns” as the latter would mean genetic (and not epigenetic) patterns to me.”

On the paper/wider implications:

“This study is a large, randomised-controlled, commercially funded trial. The authors have conclusions backed up by their robust data, adjusted for confounders such as age, sex, diet and lifestyle, and recognised the limitations of their study.

“Epigenetic clocks are powerful tools to measure biological ageing, but they are only one piece of the ageing puzzle. We know that ageing is underpinned by the “Hallmarks of Ageing”, mechanisms that contribute to biological ageing. “Epigenetic alterations” was one of the nine originally recognised hallmarks, although there are now more. Other hallmarks, things like DNA damage, changes in proteins, and problems in cellular communication, also play a role in ageing. If we want to really know if supplements can slow biological ageing, we need to look at the full picture.

“This study uses five clocks to measure epigenetic age in blood samples, only two of which measure a difference with multivitamin-multiminerals, and no difference with flavanols. This is interesting because there is lots of evidence that multivitamin-multiminerals and flavanols may slow biological ageing, but how they affect ageing isn’t fully understood yet. This study can only comment on its epigenetic snapshot of ageing in the blood. Other tissues in the body may have different epigenetic ages - for example, your liver may “age” faster than your blood.

“This study doesn’t recommend going out and buying supplements. If a person eats a nutritionally balanced diet, then many dietary supplements would probably be superfluous to their individual requirements. However, most adults in the UK are actually not eating a nutritionally balanced diet and so probably would benefit from a multivitamin-multimineral. Indeed, the UK government suggests that UK adults should consider a vitamin D supplement in autumn and winter.

Declared interests

Dr Laura Sinclair: “Dr Sinclair leads the Phyto Ageing study team at the University of Exeter. The Phyto Ageing study is an early-stage, feasibility study investigating the effects of a plant-derived dietary supplement on ageing in the hands.

Dr Sinclair is in the academic team of Prof Lorna Harries. Prof Harries’ academic team works alongside Prof Harries’ spin-out company, Senisca Ltd.

Dr Sinclair is a Trustee of the British Society for Research on Ageing.”

Carmen Romero Ferreiro, Doctor of Biology and Vice Dean of Research at Francisco de Vitoria University, said:

"This study examines whether daily supplementation with a multivitamin complex or cocoa extract can influence biological ageing as measured by epigenetic clocks. These clocks are biomarkers based on patterns of DNA methylation (small chemical modifications that regulate how genes are expressed) and allow researchers to estimate a person’s biological age, that is, how ‘aged’ their cells are compared with their chronological age.

“The research is based on a randomised clinical trial involving more than 900 adults followed over a two-year period, which represents a robust methodological design for assessing the potential effects of these nutritional interventions.

“The results show that multivitamin supplementation is associated with a slight reduction in the rate of biological ageing according to some of the epigenetic clocks analysed. However, this effect is not observed across all the markers evaluated, and its magnitude is small. In fact, the detected changes correspond to roughly a few months’ difference in the estimated biological age.
With regard to cocoa extract, the study finds no evidence that supplementation has a protective effect on these ageing markers.

“This finding is noteworthy because cocoa and flavanols have been associated in other research with cardiovascular benefits, yet these effects do not necessarily appear to translate into detectable changes in the epigenetic biomarkers of ageing examined in this study.

“As with any research, several limitations should be considered. The follow-up period was two years, which is relatively short for assessing processes as complex and cumulative as biological ageing. In addition, although epigenetic clocks are promising tools for estimating biological age, they remain indirect biomarkers. It is still being investigated to what extent changes observed in these indicators translate into clinically meaningful improvements in health or longevity.

“Overall, this work provides evidence on the potential role of multivitamin supplementation in biological ageing, although the effects observed are limited. Within the broader context of diet and lifestyle, these results suggest that its impact would likely be complementary within wider strategies for promoting health and healthy ageing, rather than a stand-alone intervention with a decisive effect". 

She declares that she has no conflicts of interest

Jordi Pérez-Tur, Research scientist at the Public Research Organisation (PRO) at the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and principal investigator at CIBERNED, said:

Summary of the study

"This study investigates the potential association between the consumption of multivitamin–multimineral supplements (MVM) with cocoa extract and biological ageing. The authors followed a cohort of 958 individuals aged over 60 (men) and 65 (women) who had no previous chronic diseases. The cohort was divided into four groups that, for two years, followed specific instructions regarding whether or not to consume cocoa extract and MVM supplements.

“Participants were monitored periodically, analysing changes that accumulate in specific regions of DNA and that have been linked to ageing. These changes allow researchers to estimate a ‘biological age’, which may differ from chronological age. There are several methods for measuring biological age, and the study used five different approaches.

“The study concludes that taking MVM supplements for two years appears to slow the rate of biological ageing according to two of these measures, known as ‘biological clocks’. In addition, participants who showed faster ageing before the intervention experienced a greater slowing of the ageing rate after taking MVM and cocoa extract.
No significant effects were observed for cocoa extract consumption alone. The researchers also examined the impact of the dietary intervention on certain inflammatory markers and, from a cognitive perspective, on the functioning of specific brain domains. These results were again interesting for some of the biological clocks analysed. However, the subgroup analysed for these outcomes was even smaller than the overall study population, so the findings should be considered preliminary and useful mainly as a basis for future studies".

Quality of the study

"As the authors themselves note in the abstract, further studies are needed to confirm and better define these results, particularly the clinical relevance of these supplements and their potential benefits for chronic diseases associated with ageing. A statistically significant result does not necessarily mean that the effect is biologically meaningful. In this study, only two of the five measures of ageing rate showed an effect, and the magnitude of that effect was relatively small (equivalent to only a few months).

“Moreover, the study design can only demonstrate an association: the consumption of MVM supplements coincided with a modest reduction in the rate of ageing. The molecular mechanisms linking these observations remain unknown and cannot be addressed within the scope of this study. In other words, correlation does not imply causation (although it does not rule it out either)".

Implications and fit with existing evidence

"At present, the implications are limited because this is a relatively preliminary study. Although it provides interesting results, further complementary research will be needed to confirm them. Nevertheless, it provides a rationale for conducting such studies".

Limitations

"As mentioned above, the main limitation is that the observed effect is relatively small. This may partly reflect the size of the study groups, which included around 250 individuals each. Detecting effects of this magnitude may require larger populations.

“In addition, the authors did not include other variables in their analyses that could influence the results, such as the participants’ diet or their level of physical activity, both of which can also affect the DNA modifications analysed in the study.

“Finally, due to the study design, the participants were limited to older adults of Caucasian (European) origin. As a result, it is not possible to determine whether this simple dietary intervention would produce similar effects in other populations or age groups".

General comments

"This is an interesting study that may serve as a foundation for larger investigations. Overall, and bearing in mind the limitations of the study, the findings suggest that a simple intervention such as taking multivitamin supplements could potentially contribute to healthier ageing.

“However, further research will be needed before firm conclusions can be drawn, and we must wait for the continuation of the project to determine whether these findings can be confirmed".

He declares that he has no conflicts of interest