Human Umbilical Cord Plasma Metabolomics Uncover Potential Metabolites for Combating Aging

Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) exhibits distinct characteristics compared to adult blood, offering significant potential for medical applications, particularly in antiaging therapies. However, the metabolic profile of HUCB relative to adult blood remains poorly understood. Moreover, the specific metabolites within HUCB that confer antiaging properties have yet to be identified. Here, we conducted an untargeted metabolomic analysis comparing cord plasma and adult plasma. Our results reveal a unique metabolic landscape in cord plasma, characterized by significant differences in 662 out of 1092 total compounds and 43 out of 59 total human metabolic pathways. Notably, 211 abundant cord metabolites decline with age, involving key aging-related processes, including inflammation, oxidative stress, energy and nutrition metabolism, proteostasis and DNA damage responses, implicating their potential role in counteracting aging. Importantly, a proof-of-concept experiment demonstrates that a formula containing five of these metabolites (carnosine, taurocholic acid, inosine, L-Histidine and N-acetylneuraminic acid) significantly extends both lifespan and healthspan in C. elegans. Collectively, our findings provide novel insights into the distinctive characteristics of the human cord plasma metabolome and identify promising metabolites with therapeutic potential for antiaging and other cord blood-based medical applications.