Borsky · Nutrition research reviews 2025 · narrative review · n=?

Distinct roles of urolithin A and spermidine in mitophagy and autophagy: implications for dietary supplementation.

Cited 9 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic pathways without systematic review methodology or new primary human data.

PubMed 41404767 · doi:10.1017/S0954422425100292 · record verified 2026-08-26

What was done

This narrative review analyzed the comparative biological mechanisms of urolithin A and spermidine, focusing on their respective signaling pathways in mitophagy and general autophagy, as well as their proposed translational roles in dietary supplementation for aging.

What was found

The abstract reports no numerical data or effect sizes. It describes that urolithin A stimulates mitophagy via PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) and Parkin RBR E3 ubiquitin protein ligase (PRKN) pathways to improve mitochondrial and muscle health, while spermidine induces broader autophagy via 5′ AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and sirtuin 1 pathways to support metabolic, cardiovascular, and cognitive health.

Why it matters

It outlines distinct mechanistic profiles for two popular longevity supplements, framing urolithin A as a targeted mitochondrial quality-control agent and spermidine as a broad systemic autophagy inducer.

Limits

The abstract contains only qualitative mechanistic descriptions without quantitative clinical trial outcomes, human intervention data, dosing parameters, or a systematic search methodology.

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