A new study published in Aging investigating a krill oil branded as Superba by Aker BioMarine found that the ingredient inhibited aging processes in animal and cellular models.
 
“There is no question that we need more science to understand how we can impact and improve the life quality of an aging population,” said Line Johnsen, VP of science and innovation at Aker BioMarine. “We have invested in a new study that looks at how krill oil can influence many underlying mechanisms that contribute to aging.”
 
In the study, researchers from University of Olso, Oslo University Hospital, and Akershus University Hospital used nematode worms and human cells to investigate if krill oil can slow down known aging processes. Nematode worms are common organisms used in biomedical research as a model for human development, genetics, aging, and disease, according to the researchers. They typically live for about three weeks, and have bodily systems similar to humans.
 
The nematodes that received krill oil lost significantly fewer nerve cells in their brain as they got older, and the authors wrote that this preserved both memory and neuromuscular function, as well as general activity.
 
Specifically, krill oil protected dopaminergic neurons from age-related degeneration and improved dopamine-dependent behavior; reduced senescence in nematode and human fibroblasts; improved mitochondrial health; and induced several other age-related changes such as rewiring gene expression programs, the authors reported.
 
“We have found that krill oil, a natural extract, inhibits many processes driving aging in nematodes,” said Hilde Loge Nilsen, professor at the department of clinical molecular biology at the University of Oslo. “We have also seen this in human cells in culture. By using a so-called aging clock, we see that the speed of the processes slows down for the animals given krill oil.”