Study
The proBNPage reduction (PBAR) trial-results of a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled, pilot study to fine tune an NT-proBNP-based method to assess the effect of anti-aging treatments.
In a 120-person pilot, resveratrol plus TA-65 was stopped after 5 months because LDL cholesterol rose; no treatment improved proBNPage.
Summary Can these supplements slow biological aging in healthy older adults? Show / hide ↓
Researchers studied 120 healthy people with an average age of about 72 for two years. They compared coenzyme Q10 plus selenium, resveratrol plus TA-65, and a placebo, an inactive treatment. They measured “proBNPage,” an estimate of biological age based on a blood marker linked to heart strain. The resveratrol and TA-65 group stopped after five months because LDL cholesterol, often called bad cholesterol, rose. The other groups showed no meaningful improvement in estimated biological age, exercise ability, grip strength, or self-reported health, and the estimate actually rose by about 2.5 years overall.
What this means for you: This study does not support buying these supplements to slow aging. The early safety concern with high-dose resveratrol and the study’s dropouts make the findings even less reassuring.
weak evidenceThe PBAR pilot trial followed 120 healthy people with a mean age of 71.7 ± 4.6 years for two years. It primarily aimed to develop a trial-design method based on NT-proBNP-derived "proBNPage", a surrogate for biological age. Participants were assigned to coenzyme Q10 100 mg twice daily plus selenium 100 mcg, resveratrol 350 mg twice daily plus TA-65 100 U, or placebo. The resveratrol plus TA-65 group was stopped at month 5 because LDL cholesterol increased significantly; the abstract says high-dose resveratrol was the probable cause. It does not provide the LDL-cholesterol estimate or p-value. Dropouts and inadequate treatment intake limited the remaining comparisons, and groups receiving coenzyme Q10/selenium or placebo showed no significant differences in proBNPage, step-test duration, handgrip strength or self-reported health. When these two groups were combined, proBNPage increased by 2.5 years after two years (p=0.01), and by 3.0 years in people over 70 (p=0.009). The study did not show that any tested treatment slowed this surrogate measure. It also cannot separate resveratrol from TA-65, and its safety signal argues against high-dose resveratrol in this setting.
The treatments did not induce significant changes in proBNPage, and the marked cholesterol increase suggests high-dose resveratrol should be avoided.
This was a 120-person pilot using a surrogate biological-age measure, not a hard ageing outcome. Resveratrol was combined with TA-65 and stopped at month 5 because LDL cholesterol increased significantly; dropouts and inadequate intake further weakened the comparison.
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