Biology subjects

Ravussin, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Ravussin, E..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Exoproteome of calorie-restricted humans identifies complement deactivation as an immunometabolic checkpoint reducing inflammaging

Caloric restriction (CR) extends lifespan, yet the convergent immunometabolic mechanism of healthspan remains unclear. Using longitudinal plasma proteomics analyses in humans achieving 14% CR for 2 years, we identified that inhibition of the complement pathway is linked to lower inflammaging. The protein C3a (and its cleaved form) was significantly lowered by CR, thus reducing inflammation emanating from three canonical complement pathways. Interestingly, circulating C3a levels are increased during aging in mice, with visceral adipose tissue macrophages as the predominant source. In macrophages, C3a signaling via ERK elevated inflammatory cytokine production, suggesting the existence of an autocrine loop that promotes inflammaging. Notably, long-lived FGF21-overexpressing mice and PLA2G7-deficient mice exhibited lower C3a in aging. Specific small molecule-mediated systemic C3 inhibition reduced inflammaging, improved metabolic homeostasis, and enhanced healthspan of aged mice. Collectively, our findings reveal that complement C3 deactivation is a metabolically regulated inflammaging checkpoint that can be harnessed to extend healthspan.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Hormetic elevation of taurine restrains inflammaging by deactivating the NLRP3 inflammasome.

Taurine, the most abundant sulfonic amino acid in humans is largely obtained from diets rich in animal proteins. However, taurine is dietary non-essential because it can be synthesized from cysteine by activation of transsulfuration pathway (TSP) when food consumption is low or if the diet is predominantly plant based. The decline of taurine was proposed as the driver of aging through an undefined mechanism. Here, we found that mild food restriction in humans for one year that resulted in 14% reduction of calorie intake elevated the hypotaurine and taurine concentration in adipose tissue. Therefore, we investigated whether elevated taurine mimics caloric-restrictions beneficial effects on inflammation, a key mechanism of aging. Interestingly, aging increased the circulating and tissue concentrations of taurine suggesting that elevated taurine may serve as a hormetic stress response metabolite that regulates mechanism of age-related inflammation. The elevated taurine protected mice against mortality from sepsis and inhibited inflammasome-driven inflammation and gasdermin-D (GSDMD) mediated pyroptosis. Mechanistically, danger signals including hypotonicity that activate NLRP3-inflammasome, caused upstream taurine efflux from macrophages, which triggered potassium (K+) release and downstream canonical NLRP3 inflammasome assembly, caspase-1 activation, GSDMD cleavage and IL-1{beta} and IL-18 secretion that was reversed by taurine restoration. Notably, taurine does not efflux from GSDMD pore and inhibited IL-1{beta} from macrophages independently of known transporters SLC6A6 and SLC36A1. Increased taurine in old mice promotes healthspan by inducing anti-inflammatory pathways previously linked to youthfulness. These findings demonstrate that taurine is an upstream metabolic sensor of cellular perturbations that control NLRP3 inflammasome and lowers age-related inflammation.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2024

Cysteine depletion triggers adipose tissue thermogenesis and weight-loss.

Dietary interventions such as caloric restriction (CR)1 and methionine restriction2 that prolong lifespan induce the browning of white adipose tissue (WAT), an adaptive metabolic response that increases heat production to maintain health3,4. However, how diet influences adipose browning and metabolic health is unclear. Here, we identified that weight-loss induced by CR in humans5 reduces cysteine concentration in WAT suggesting depletion of this amino-acid may be involved in metabolic benefits of CR. To investigate the role of cysteine on organismal metabolism, we created a cysteine-deficiency mouse model in which dietary cysteine was eliminated and cystathionine {gamma}-lyase (CTH)6, the enzyme that synthesizes cysteine was conditionally deleted. Using this animal model, we found that systemic cysteine-depletion causes drastic weight-loss with increased fat utilization and browning of adipose tissue. The restoration of dietary cysteine in cysteine-deficient mice rescued weight loss together with reversal of adipose browning and increased food-intake in an on-demand fashion. Mechanistically, cysteine deficiency induced browning and weight loss is dependent on sympathetic nervous system derived noradrenaline signaling via {beta}3-adrenergic-receptors and does not require UCP1. Therapeutically, in high-fat diet fed obese mice, one week of cysteine-deficiency caused 30% weight-loss and reversed inflammation. These findings thus establish that cysteine is essential for organismal metabolism as removal of cysteine in the host triggers adipose browning and rapid weight loss.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2018

Potential Bias of Doubly Labeled Water for Measuring Energy Expenditure Differences Between Diets Varying in Carbohydrate

BackgroundVery low-carbohydrate diets have been reported to substantially increase human energy expenditure as measured by doubly labeled water (DLW) but not by respiratory chambers. Do the DLW data reflect true physiological differences that are undetected by respiratory chambers? Alternatively, are the apparent DLW energy expenditure a consequence of failure to fully account for respiratory quotient (RQ) differences between diets?\n\nObjectiveTo examine energy expenditure differences between diets varying drastically in carbohydrate and to quantitatively compare DLW data with respiratory chamber and body composition measurements within an energy balance framework.\n\nDesignDLW measurements were obtained during the final two weeks of month-long baseline (BD; 50% carbohydrate, 35% fat, 15% protein) and isocaloric ketogenic diets (KD; 5% carbohydrate, 80% fat, 15% protein) in 17 men with BMI 25-35 kg/m2. Subjects resided 2d/week in respiratory chambers to measure energy expenditure (EEchamber). DLW expenditure was calculated using chamber-determined respiratory quotients (RQ) either unadjusted (EEDLW) or adjusted (EEDLW{Delta}RQ) for net energy imbalance using diet-specific coefficients. Accelerometers measured physical activity. Body composition changes were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry which were combined with energy intake measurements to calculate energy expenditure by balance (EEbal).\n\nResultsAfter transitioning from BD to KD, neither EEchamber nor EEbal were significantly changed ({triangleup}EEchamber=24{+/-}30 kcal/d; p=0.43 and {triangleup}EEbal=-141{+/-}118 kcal/d; p=0.25). Similarly, physical activity (-5.1{+/-}4.8%; p=0.3) and exercise efficiency (-1.6{+/-}2.4%; p=0.52) were not significantly changed. However, EEDLW was 209{+/-}83 kcal/d higher during the KD (p=0.023) but was not significantly increased when adjusted for energy balance (EEDLW{Delta}RQ =139{+/-}89 kcal/d; p=0.14). After removing 2 outliers whose EEDLW were incompatible with other data, EEDLW and EEDLW{triangleup}RQ were marginally increased during the KD by 126{+/-}62 kcal/d (p=0.063) and 46{+/-}65 kcal/d (p=0.49), respectively.\n\nConclusionsDLW calculations failing to account for diet-specific energy imbalance effects on RQ erroneously suggest that very low carbohydrate diets substantially increase energy expenditure.

physiology↗