Is there a Fountain of Youth? Certainly over the past decade, advances in science have been able to reverse some aspects of ageing in experimental animals. For example, the mitochondrial modulator urolithin restores an ageing immune system and hematopoietic (blood) system in experimental mice. Urolithin is the result of the transformation of ellagic acids by gut microflora in humans. Ellagic acids and related molecules are found in some nuts, herbs and berries.
There are other molecules that have been reported to perform similar functions in decreasing the number of senescent (ageing) cells and in decreasing inflammation. Many of these entities exist in plants or fungi. And magnesium? Amongst a multiplicity of other functions, magnesium is an integral part of the human body cell energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Without magnesium nothing much happens!
See: Induction of mitochondrial recycling reverts age-associated decline of the hematopoietic and immune systems. Mukul Girotra, et al, Nature Aging, (2023).
Is there a connection between the function of mitochondria in body cells and the consumption of magnesium? In the above video, titled Greek Island a Fountain of Youth, does herbal tea, homemade wine, local water, local vegetables and local ocean fish consumption maintain body cell mitochondria because of the high magnesium content consumed from the food and drink?
The body cell organelles called mitochondria are considered to have originated from symbiotic bacteria that invaded cells of ancient organisms over one billion years ago. Indeed, mitochondria are able often to reproduce themselves independent of cell replication. In animals, including humans, specific mitochondrial genes are inherited maternally via the cytoplasm of the ovum (not from chromosomes in the nucleus) and hence may be described as clones derived from female ancestors.
Mitochondria are able to convert the energy inherent in food molecules into a form of chemical energy that is vital for the life of body cells. In mitochondria, electrons derived from food molecules pass along the inner mitochondrial membrane to an oxygen “sink” to produce water. The presence of optimal oxygen concentrations in mitochondria is absolutely vital for optimal mitochondrial function. Oxygen maintains the flux of electrons derived from food. Thus, oxygen maintains energy levels.
Electrons transferred from food molecules to oxygen is the most important and fundamental process needed for mammalian, including human life. It must be emphasised that the maintenance of this process maintains cell and body life and that aberrations in this process may be the foundation of senescence and many major diseases. As an aside, about 10 to 20 percent of total body water is derived from cell oxygen and mitochondria in this way.
Body cells utilise energy that is in the form of concentrations of chemical energy existing mainly as molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The vast majority of ATP is produced in mitochondria. ATP is in a complex with magnesium ions to shield ATP’s negative phosphate charges. ATP exists actually in body cells as magnesium-ATP. Indeed, mitochondria are the main storage sites of magnesium in body cells and contain up to 75 percent of cell magnesium.
The magnesium ion is a small, densely charged cation that forms strong interactions with water and other molecules exhibiting electrostatic dipoles such as ATP, DNA, RNA, and proteins. Magnesium is known as a kosmotrope (a structure maker) in chemistry and orders water and other molecules around its positive charges. Magnesium is vital to the hydration, molecular structure and function of body cells. Indeed, neurodegenerative diseases are categorised by protein misfolding and aggregation due to protein dehydration (which chemically lowers the free-energy of protein). Magnesium deficiency has been associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
In mitochondria, magnesium-ATP is produced by an enzyme located in the inner mitochondrial membrane. The inner mitochondrial membrane contains the mitochondrial respiratory chain where the electrons originating from the breakdown of the complex molecules in food progress through a series of specific membrane components towards oxygen. As the electrons progress through the respiratory chain, hydrogen ions (protons) are translocated from one side of the inner mitochondrial membrane to the other and concentrate in the intermembrane space. The hydrogen ions traverse back across the inner mitochondrial membrane through the enzyme called ATP synthase to produce chemical energy magnesium-ATP for the cell.
An excess of hydrogen ions in mitochondria (acidification) affects the ATP synthase enzyme detrimentally, by affecting the hydrogen ion concentration gradient. An excess of hydrogen ions also decreases electron transport along the inner mitochondrial membrane. As a consequence, there is a decrease in magnesium-ATP production. A large decrease in magnesium ATP production in mitochondria is considered to stimulate excess activity of the metabolic pathway in cytoplasm called glycolysis which may contribute to the development of cancer (this is known as the Warburg effect).
It must be emphasised that it is mitochondrial electron flux that is the fundamental basis of all life processes in animals. It is not just the mitochondria per se – it is the flux through the mitochondria that is important. The flux of electrons from food molecules to oxygen is highly dependent on oxygen availability – hence the importance of exercise or physical activity to increase oxygenated blood supply to tissues and cells.
Of particular health interest is the observation that the excess consumption of alcohol leads to cell acidification, a loss of magnesium from mitochondria and an increase in glycolysis which appears to result eventually in the predisposition to, or development of, cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has stated that alcohol in alcoholic beverages is regarded as a Group 1 listed carcinogenic compound.
Are aberrations in mitochondrial function correlated to ageing and the degenerative, inflammatory and other diseases associated with ageing? Depending on the disease, the answer is yes – particularly for heart disease, dementia and cancer. For example, many invasive cancers have a large impairment in magnesium ATP production in the mitochondria of cancer cells. There is an increased rate of magnesium ATP production by glycolysis in the cytoplasm of the cells with a concomitant increase in lactic acid production. This phenomenon is known as the Warburg effect and has been studied by cancer researches extensively. Indeed, it is the Warburg effect that is the basis for positron emission tomography (PET scanning) that is used for cancer diagnosis and measuring therapeutic responses.
There has been a large increase in recent years in the number of medical and scientific research publications that relate mitochondrial disfunction to pathology and disease (particularly heart disease, dementia, cancer and diabetes). Peer-reviewed publications at the USA National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Library of Medicine website that involved mitochondria and diseases number over 10,000. Mitochondrial function is extremely complex and the concentration of the mitochondrial matrix is 500 milligrams per millilitre. This concentration makes the mitochondrial matrix a gel or glue rather than an ideal biochemical medium (as used in laboratories). It is thought that this intense concentration favours quantum effects (proton delocation; proton tunnelling) which are essential for all life processes.
Mitochondria occupy about thirty percent of the cell volume in organs with high energy requirements (heart, brain). The magnesium concentration in mitochondria is about five-fold higher than the rest of the cell. Magnesium deficiency induces mitochondrial disfunction which decreases magnesium ATP production.
It is of interest that physical activity (resulting in increased oxygen supply to cells and mitochondria – hence increased mitochondrial function) appears to be associated with a significant reduction in recurrence and mortality among breast cancer patients.
It can be seen how the induction of mitochondrial recycling, as described in the above journal, Nature Aging, may increase appropriate cell energy supply which may maintain cell function and longevity. Indeed, the article states that mitochondrial improvement revitalised the immune system and gave an improved immune response against viral infections in ageing laboratory animals. Mitochondrial function was restored particularly in the stem cells of the blood forming (Haematopoietic) system.
