BUFFALO, NY — August 31, 2026 — A new research paper was published in Volume 18 of Aging on August 11, 2026, titled “TMAO is associated with higher age, cardiometabolic risk factors and degenerative alterations of the brain in healthy elderly adults.”
The study was led by first author Gunter Almer from the Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics at the Medical University of Graz in Austria. The corresponding author is Markus Herrmann from the same institution.
Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a metabolite linked to the gut microbiome. Its precursor, trimethylamine (TMA), is produced by gut bacteria from dietary compounds such as L-carnitine and choline and is subsequently converted to TMAO in the liver. Higher circulating TMAO concentrations have previously been associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, but evidence concerning its role in aging and neurodegeneration remains inconsistent.
To investigate these relationships, the researchers measured serum TMAO in 487 neurologically normal, community-dwelling adults from the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study and Austrian Stroke Prevention Family Study. Participants had a mean age of 67.8 years and underwent cognitive testing assessing memory, executive function, and motor abilities. Brain MRI data were also available for 180 participants, allowing the researchers to examine structural and vascular brain changes.
Full press release - https://www.aging-us.com/news-room/higher-tmao-levels-linked-to-cardiometabolic-risk-and-brain-atrophy-in-older-adults
Paper DOI: https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206401
Corresponding author: Markus Herrmann - markus.herrmann@medunigraz.at
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Keywords: TMAO, aging, risk factors, cognitive function, brain atrophy
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