Researchers from Japan’s Osaka University published a new study examining the relationship between sex cells, aging and sex. They found that vitamin D extends lifespan in fish, a result that will likely translate to other vertebrates, including humans.
Dr. Tohru Ishitani, a researcher on the study of Nothobranchius furzeri (also known as killifish), said Newsweek in an email from which the study concluded: “Vitamin D treatment extended lifespan in both sexes in the turquoise killifish, N. furzeri.” The study, published in Scientific progress concluded on June 12 that the “average lifespan in women was extended by 7% and 21% in men, respectively.”
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He explained: “Excessive treatment of vitamin D did not extend the lifespan of killifish, so it was important to treat the right amount.” Dr. Ishitani noted that while “an excessive increase in vitamin D has also been reported to have a negative effect on the lifespan of mice,” the vitamin “has been used as a supplement for a long time, and as long as the amount is correct, it has little adverse effect on the health.”
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Killifish have an exceptionally short lifespan, measured in weeks, making them a useful benchmark for a study of aging. Researchers removed germ cells from both women and men to compare biological responses.
In female killifish, removing germ cells shortened lifespan, decreased estrogen and increased insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling, the study said. In contrast, removing germ cells in men improved their health with increased vitamin D signaling, resulting in longer lifespan.
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Dr. Michael Holick, a vitamin D research specialist at Boston University’s Vitamin D, Skin, and Bone Research Laboratory, explained the vitamin D process to Newsweek in a telephone interview: “When you produce vitamin D in your skin through sun exposure or ingestion, it goes to your liver and is converted into 25-hydroxy vitamin D, but then it goes to your kidneys where it activates 125-dihydroxy vitamin D – which is the active form of vitamin D that produces signals by interacting with the vitamin D receptor that then travels to the nucleus to unlock genetic information.” Vitamin D “is inactive in itself, it must be activated first in the liver and then in the kidneys,” he explained.
He did not find the recent study’s findings surprising, as vitamin D’s beneficial effects and link to longevity are “well documented.” He noted an earlier study on worms (C. elegans) that showed they lived longer when given vitamin D “because it improved the protein status of the animal.” Additionally, he highlighted that the Endocrine Society’s latest vitamin D recommendations state, “In the general population aged 75 years and older, we recommend empiric vitamin D supplementation because of its potential to reduce the risk of mortality.”
Dr. Holick added, “There is very good documentation that the higher your vitamin D status, the lower your risk of mortality is. And I believe this is true at all ages.” He emphasized that vitamin D can improve neurocognitive function, reduce the risk of myocardial infarction and type 2 diabetes, and lower the risk of autoimmune diseases.
In a similar vein, professor Majid Kazemian of Purdue University shared Newsweek in an email Thursday: “Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many diseases, and as a steroid hormone, vitamin D affects many cellular processes, including anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effects.”
He also pointed to the findings of other studies.
“Several studies in mice and other animal models have shown aging-related symptoms and premature aging due to vitamin D deficiency or inactivation of the receptor or activating enzyme.”
Vitamin D can be both produced and absorbed. According to Dr. Holick: “We know that when you produce vitamin D in your skin from sunlight, it stays in your body two to three times longer than when you take it orally. But if you take vitamin D every day, that is not a problem. But we believe that sunlight not only produces vitamin D in your skin, but also has many other potentially important effects.” He recommends ‘sensible sun exposure’.
Newsweek contacted several other medical researchers for comment via email on Thursday.
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Update 6/14/24, 10:10 AM ET: This article has been updated with comments from Professor Majid Kazemian.
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