Rat pups that are born to mothers who don’t get enough protein tend, like their human counterparts, to have a low birth weight. And just like human babies, they often experience a later rebound of weight gain. Susan Ozanne at the University of Cambridge has found that these rat pups have shorter telomeres in the cells of several organs, including the heart aorta. They also have lower levels of an enzyme known as CoQ (ubiquinone). CoQ is a natural antioxidant that is found mostly in our mitochondria, which play a role in energy production. A CoQ deficit has been associated with faster aging of
...more
