PITTSBURGH — The University of Pittsburgh is launching a clinical trial to investigate whether kaempferol—an antioxidant naturally found in foods like kale, spinach and broccoli—can help slow or counteract the biological effects of aging.
The $6.5 million study, funded by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. of Japan, brings together scientists at Pitt, Weill Cornell Medicine and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Each site will enroll 40 participants, with Pitt serving as the central hub for analyzing samples collected across the three institutions.
They are exploring kaempferol’s effects on mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell responsible for generating energy and regulating metabolism. As people age, mitochondrial efficiency declines and DNA mutations accumulate. This results in problems like fatigue, cognitive decline, reduced muscle and bone strength, and cardiovascular disease. Early research suggests kaempferol may help bolster mitochondrial function and support longevity.
“The space environment adds to the speed of aging, and we have a product that checks the effect and changes the pace of aging,” said Yasutaka Ikeda, director of Otsuka’s Advanced Research Institute for Core Science, Nutraceuticals Division. The current work builds on 20 clinical trials on kaempferol in Japan and research done at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, he said.
Otsuka initiated the collaboration with Afshin Beheshti, professor of surgery and director of the Center for Space Biomedicine, Pitt Health Sciences, when they spotted his related research in the journal Cell. His research focuses on understanding and mitigating mitochondrial damage caused by space radiation and other environmental stressors.
“Spaceflight induces genomic instability, mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation—essentially speeding up the aging process,” Beheshti said. “We're testing how this nutritional supplement could maybe improve mitochondrial performance in the space environment. It's very promising.”
Although kaempferol is present in everyday foods, the quantities required for therapeutic benefit far exceed what people can consume through diet alone. In this earthbound clinical trial, 120 volunteers will take a kaempferol-containing pill. Researchers will examine blood and urine samples to map how the compound moves through and is processed by the body—a pharmacokinetics analysis, tracking absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion.
A second phase will use multiomics approaches to analyze DNA, RNA and protein patterns that may predict how different people respond to kaempferol. By identifying these biomarkers, the researchers aim to uncover how the compound works in healthy individuals—knowledge that could guide future applications in patient care.
“I do a lot of COVID and long COVID work, and although it's done by a virus, not by space radiation, the suppression and the damage received in the mitochondria is the exact same,” Beheshti said. “Having space accelerating the whole disease model is going to maybe lead to other clinical trials that are going to help millions of people on Earth to improve their lives.”