Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of global mortality. That’s why we are proud to share a groundbreaking study titled “Urolithin A provides cardioprotection and mitochondrial quality enhancement preclinically and improves human cardiovascular health biomarkers“. Liu, Sophia et al. iScience, Volume 28, Issue 2, 111814
Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.111814
Authors:
Sophia Liu1,8 ∙ Julie Faitg2,8 ∙ Charlotte Tissot2,8 ∙ Dimitris Konstantopoulos3 ∙ Ross Laws4 ∙ Guillaume Bourdier5 ∙ Pénélope A. Andreux6 ∙ Tracey Davey4 ∙ Hector Gallart-Ayala7 ∙ Julijana Ivanisevic7 ∙ Anurag Singh2 ∙ Chris Rinsch2 ∙ David J. Marcinek1 Send email to dmarc@uw.edu ∙ Davide D’Amico
Affiliations :
1 Department of Radiology, University of Washington Medical Center, Box 358050, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
2 Amazentis, EPFL Innovation Park, Lausanne, Switzerland
3 Genevia Technologies Oy, 33100 Tampere, Finland
4 Electron Microscopy Research Services, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
5 Syncrosome, Campus Luminy – Luminy Entreprises, 13288 Marseille, France
6 Vandria, EPFL Innovation Park, Lausanne, Switzerland
7 Metabolomics Platform, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
8 These authors contributed equally
9 Lead contact
This study highlights the potential of Urolithin A (UA), a post-biotic and mitophagy activator, to improve heart health by addressing mitochondrial dysfunctions. Preclinical model results show reduced cardiac dysfunction, while human trials indicate significant reductions in plasma ceramides, making UA a promising nutritional intervention for aging populations !
And hope for patients with Cardiovascular diseases.
Highlights
–> Urolithin A enhances heart mitochondrial quality in aging and heart failure models
–> Cardiac function decline in these models is reduced by urolithin A
–> In humans, urolithin A lowers plasma ceramides associated with heart disease risk
–> Urolithin A is a promising nutritional approach to support heart health as we age
Summary
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the primary cause of global mortality. Nutritional interventions hold promise to reduce CVD risks in an increasingly aging population. However, few nutritional interventions are proven to support heart health and act mostly on blood lipid homeostasis rather than at cardiac cell level. Here, we show that mitochondrial quality dysfunctions are common hallmarks in human cardiomyocytes upon heart aging and in chronic conditions. Preclinically, the post-biotic and mitophagy activator, urolithin A (UA), reduced both systolic and diastolic cardiac dysfunction in models of natural aging and heart failure. At a cellular level, this was associated with a recovery of mitochondrial ultrastructural defects and mitophagy. In humans, UA supplementation for 4 months in healthy older adults significantly reduced plasma ceramides clinically validated to predict CVD risks. These findings extend and translate UA’s benefits to heart health, making UA a promising nutritional intervention to support cardiovascular function as we age.
