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NT-020, a proprietary supplement including blueberries and green tea, improved cognitive processing speed in clinical trial participants without impaired memory

Tampa, FL (Feb. 6, 2014) – Declines in the underlying brain skills needed to think, remember and learn are normal in aging. In fact, this cognitive decline is a fact of life for most older Americans.

Therapies to improve the cognitive health of older adults are critically important for lessening declines in mental performance as people age. While physical activity and cognitive training are among the efforts aimed at preventing or delaying cognitive decline, dietary modifications and supplements have recently generated considerable interest.

Now a University of South Florida (USF) study reports that a formula of nutrients high in antioxidants and other natural components helped boost the speed at which the brains of older adults processed information.

The USF-developed nutritional supplement, containing extracts from blueberries and green tea combined with vitamin D3 and amino acids, including carnosine, was tested by the USF researchers in a clinical trial enrolling 105 healthy adults, ages 65 to 85.

University of South Florida researchers Paula Bickford, PhD, and Brent Small, PhD, teamed up to investigate the effects of a USF-developed, antioxidant-rich nutritional supplement on the cognitive performance of older adults.

The two-month study evaluated the effects of the formula, called NT-020, on the cognitive performance of these older adults, who had no diagnosed memory disorders.

Those randomized to the group of 52 volunteers receiving NT-020 demonstrated improvements in cognitive processing speed, while the 53 volunteers randomized to receive a placebo did not. Reduced cognitive processing speed, which can slow thinking and learning, has been associated with advancing age, the researchers said.

The study, conducted at the USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, appears in the current issue of Rejuvenation Research (Vol. 17 No. 1, 2014).  Participants from both groups took a battery of memory tests before and after the interventions.

“After two months, test results showed modest improvements in two measures of cognitive processing speed for those taking NT-020 compared to those taking placebo,” said Brent Small, PhD, a professor in USF’s School of Aging Studies. “Processing speed is most often affected early on in the course of cognitive aging. Successful performance in processing tasks often underlies more complex cognitive outcomes, such as memory and verbal ability.”

Blueberries, a major ingredient in the NT-020 formula, are rich in polyphenols, a type of antioxidant containing a polyphenolic, or natural phenol substructure.

“The basis for the use of polyphenol-rich nutritional supplements as a moderator of age-related cognitive decline is the age-related increase in oxidative stress and inflammation,” said study co-principal investigator Paula C. Bickford, PhD, a professor in the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and senior research career scientist at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa. “Non-vitamin polyphenols are the most abundant modulators of oxidative stress and inflammation in our diet. NT-020 is 95 percent polyphenols.”

One of the main ingredients of the supplement, called NT-20, is extracted from blueberries.

In several preclinical trials, researchers gave aging laboratory rats NT-020 to see if it boosted memory and other cognitive performance by promoting the health of neurons in the aging brain. Those studies demonstrated that NT-020 promoted the growth of stem cells in the brain, produced an overall rejuvenating effect, benefitted animals with simulated stroke, and led to better cognitive performance.

The researchers plan future clinical trials with longer intervention periods so that the optimal time for taking the formula may be better understood.  The researchers speculated that if the study had included participants cognitively less healthy, or those with memory impairments, they may have observed “more robust findings.”

“In the future, having markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, as well as brain-based measures of functioning, may allow us to identify the manner by which this compound, as well as others, may influence functioning,” they concluded.

The NT-020 formula was patented by the University of South Florida, in partnership with the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, and licensed to Natura Therapeutics, Inc.  The supplement is commercially available as NutraStem®.

The study was supported by a grant from the University of South Florida Neuroscience Collaborative to Dr. Small and Dr. Bickford.

Dr. Bickford is a co-founder of Natura Therapeutics, Inc.

– USF Health –

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu

Video Editor:  Klaus Herdocia, USF Health Communications

Media contact:
Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
abaier@health.usf.edu or (813) 974-3303

Media release by Florida Science Communications, Inc. 

USF among top 10 organizations worldwide with 15 Fellows named this year

USF Health researchers comprised a third (5) of the record number of University of South Florida faculty members elected 2012 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 

The 15 faculty members from USF awarded the prestigious honor — up from four last year – catapulted USF into the top 10 institutions worldwide with the most AAS Fellows named this year.  The lifetime designation recognizes scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

The five USF Health faculty members – representing the Morsani College of Medicine, College of Public Health and College of Pharmacy – named AAAS Fellows this year are:

Paula C. Bickford, PhD, professor of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair and senior research career scientist at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital:  For distinguished contributions to the field of aging research, and particularly as a leader in the field of nutritional neuroscience and for outstanding service.

Cesar V. Borlongan, PhD, professor and vice chair for research in Neurosurgery and Brain Repair:   For distinguished contributions to the field of stem cell therapy for neurological disorders, particularly for advancing translational biomedical research of cell based-therapeutics in stroke.

Robert J. Deschenes, PhD, professor and chair of Molecular Medicine:  For distinguished contributions to the field of molecular cell biology and the use of model genetic systems to elucidate the spatial arrangement of signaling proteins. 

Karen D. Liller, PhD, professor of Community and Family Health, dean of the USF Graduate School, and associate vice president for Research and Innovation:  For distinguished contributions as a graduate education administrator and also as a research scholar in the fields of public health and children’s injury prevention.

Lynn Wecker, PhD, Distinguished University Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience and Distinguished Research Professor:   For distinguished service to the scientific community as an innovative, highly accomplished researcher, award-winning teacher, and dedicated servant and leader of her academic disciplines.

For more  information, go to the USF News Page.

Five of the record-breaking 15 faculty members from USF named 2012 AAAS Fellows are from USF Health.