The four main hallmarks of ageing that it has identified and is targeting through its portfolio of nutritional ingredients are 1) cellular senescence, 2) mitochondrial dysfunction, 3) chronic inflammation, and 4) dysbiosis.
Gabriele Civiletto, associate principal scientist at dsm-firmenich pointed out the above during his presentation titled “Enhancing Health Expectancy: Dietary Interventions” during the two-day Founders Longevity Forum that took place at W Sentosa Singapore Cove during February 27 and 28.
The forum was organised by the Founders Forum Group, Longevity.Technology, and the National University of Singapore (NUS)’s Academy for Healthy Longevity Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.
The hallmarks of ageing is a concept that has evolved over the years.
Most recently, researchers have proposed that there are 12 hallmarks of ageing - up from the previous notion of nine hallmarks.
The 12 hallmarks of ageing, proposed about two years ago, were published in the scientific journal Cell.
On top of the four mentioned above, the other eight are genomic instability, telomere attrition, epigenetic alterations, loss of proteostasis, disabled macroautophagy, deregulated nutrient-sensing, stem cell exhaustion, and altered intercellular communication.
According to Civiletto, the company is focusing on the four aforementioned hallmarks of ageing as they are more addressable by nutrition supplementation at the moment.
“Yes, there are 12 hallmarks of ageing identified, but science has demonstrated that these [four particular hallmarks of ageing] are the ones that are more easily targeted with nutrition.
“And there are existing ingredients that can target these four hallmarks of ageing, which is why we want to focus on what is the highest possibility to get into the [healthy longevity] market with nutritional interventions,” he told NutraIngredients-Asia in an interview after his presentation.
The company has been seeing greater industry attention and queries in longevity science and solutions in the past three years.
This could be driven by new scientific discoveries, advancements in technology for reversing biological age, as well as consumer interest in this area, said Civiletto.
“Life expectancy has increased and when life expectancy increases, people would want to have a longer health expectancy as well,” added Hui Cheng Chong, associate director, dietary supplements, health, nutrition & care, APAC at dsm-firmenich.
With the paradigm shifting from sick care to preventative care, the company believes that the next chapter to health management may be the use of ageing clocks to measure biological ageing and take the necessary interventions.
Ingredients for targeting the hallmarks of ageing
Some of the ingredients that have shown scientific evidence for targeting the hallmarks of ageing include resveratrol, vitamin D, and omega-3 fatty acids, Civiletto pointed out during his presentation.
Resveratrol, for example, can target mitochondrial dysfunction. Clinical trial findings have shown that it can also reduce fatigue and increase muscle strength, especially among the ageing population.
Omega-3 fatty acids, on the other hand, have been shown to address chronic inflammation - which is the factor behind many age-related diseases.
Findings from the DO-HEALTH trial, in which dsm-firmenich has provided the study materials for, found that the supplementation of vitamin D, omega-3, as well as exercise could reverse biological ageing.
Results of the study were recently published in the journal Nature Aging on February 3.
The study explored the effects of vitamin D (2,000 IU per day) and omega-3 (one gram per day) supplementation, alongside a home exercise program, on DNA methylation over the course of three years.
Omega-3 supplementation alone for instance, had slowed down DNA methylation clocks PhenoAge, GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE, with all three treatments showing additive benefits on PhenoAge.
Omega-3 supplementation for three years has also been shown to reverse biological ageing by between 2.9 to 3.8 months.
Dysbiosis is another hallmark that dsm-firmenich is targeting, which it believes could be addressed with the use of biotics, including pre- and postbiotics.
These ingredients are also part of the company’s portfolio, and it aims to repurpose these ingredients for supporting healthy longevity. It is also exploring the use of novel ingredients at the same time.
“Healthy longevity has always been part of our portfolio, we have been looking into it and with recent trends emerging, such as the 12 hallmarks of ageing, we are now repurposing some of our existing ingredients for supporting healthy longevity,” said Chong.
“Before the time when there was big data and tools, it was more difficult to measure the biology of ageing. But now, we can design interventions with more precision, which is why we are leveraging on ingredients that we have in our portfolio to create novel and more effective anti-ageing solutions,” added Civiletto.
