title: A Natural Product Telomerase Activator Lengthens Telomeres in Humans: A Randomized, Double Blind, and Placebo Controlled Study.
abstract: TA-65 is a dietary supplement based on an improved formulation of a small molecule telomerase activator that was discovered in a systematic screening of natural product extracts from traditional Chinese medicines. This study summarizes the findings on telomere length (TL) changes from a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study of TA-65 over a 1 year period. The study was conducted on 117 relatively healthy cytomegalovirus-positive subjects aged 53-87 years old. Subjects taking the low dose of TA-65 (250 U) significantly increased TL over the 12 months period (530 ± 180 bp; p = 0.005), whereas subjects in the placebo group significantly lost TL (290 ± 100 bp; p = 0.01). The high dose of TA-65 (1000 U) showed a trend of improvements in TL compared with that of the placebo group; however, the improvements did not reach statistical significance. TL changes in the low-dose group were similar for both median and 20th percentile TLs. The findings suggest that TA-65 can lengthen telomeres in a statistically and possibly clinically significant manner.
authors.affiliation: 1 Anti-aging Group Barcelona , Barcelona, Spain .
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salvador
authors.affiliation: 2 T.A. Sciences, Inc. , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Gunasekaran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Singaravelu
authors.affiliation: 3 Independent Consultant , Murphys, California.
authors.forename: Calvin B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Harley
authors.affiliation: 4 Peter Flom Consulting , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flom
authors.affiliation: 2 T.A. Sciences, Inc. , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Anitha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suram
authors.affiliation: 5 PhysioAge Systems, LLC , New York, New York.
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Raffaele
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001688:Biological Products / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D008875:Middle Aged; D019098:Telomerase / Q000502:physiology*; D016615:Telomere / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products; D019098:Telomerase
keywords: Astragalus; TA-65; placebo controlled trial; randomized; telomerase; telomere length