Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #291019

Title: Mechanistically linking age-related diseases and dietary carbohydrate via autophagy and the ubiquitin proteolytic systems

Author
item TAYLOR, ALLEN - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Autophagy
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/18/2012
Publication Date: 9/1/2012
Citation: Taylor, A. 2012. Mechanistically linking age-related diseases and dietary carbohydrate via autophagy and the ubiquitin proteolytic systems. Autophagy. 8(9):1404-1406.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Epidemiological data indicate that consuming diets that deliver sugar to the blood rapidly (called high glycemic index, GI) is associated with enhanced risk for age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cataract and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). These debilities are associated with accumulation of toxic protein aggregates as observed in other protein precipitation or amyloid diseases including Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Huntington diseases and encephalopathies. Barriers to recommending lower-GI diets to promote health include the absence of established intracellular biochemical mechanisms that link high-GI diets to compromised homeostasis. The data herein corroborate the epidemiological findings and provide platforms to elucidate additional mechanistic aspects of salutary effects of consuming diets of different GIs. They are also useful for testing drugs, including autophagy enhancers, glycemia regulators, or nutraceuticals, which can be exploited to extend health.