A new study led by researchers at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology suggests that the benefits of the Mediterranean diet may be driven, in part, by tiny proteins hidden within our mitochondria, opening a new window into how diet shapes aging and disease risk.

The study, led by USC Leonard Davis Instructional Associate Professor of Gerontology Roberto Vicinanza, found that people who closely follow a Mediterranean-style diet have higher levels of two mitochondrial microproteins, humanin and SHMOOSE – both of which have been linked to protection against cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration. “These microproteins may act as molecular messengers that translate what we eat into how our cells function and age,” Vicinanza said. “It’s a new biological pathway that helps explain why the Mediterranean diet is so powerful.”

The team also found that specific foods appeared to matter. Olive oil, fish and legumes were associated with higher humanin levels, while olive oil and lower intake of refined carbohydrates were linked to higher SHMOOSE. “These findings suggest that specific components of the Mediterranean diet may directly influence mitochondrial biology,” said USC Leonard Davis School Dean and USC Distinguished Professor Pinchas Cohen, the study’s senior author. “Humanin and SHMOOSE could serve as biomarkers for adherence to the Mediterranean diet and have clinical significance.”

Mouse study advances understanding of how a mild health event that babies born prematurely experience leads to adverse brain development outcomes and poor memory into adulthood. 

About The Study: In this multicenter randomized clinical trial among older adults with family history of dementia and/or self-reported subjective cognitive decline, exercise, intensive pharmacological reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, or both did not result in statistically significant differences in improvements in cognitive function over 24 months.

Dr. Jeffrey Keller of Pennington Biomedical Research Center explores whether exercise and intensive cardiovascular risk reduction could improve cognitive function in older adults at risk for Alzheimer’s disease In a recent study, researchers found that exercise and aggressive cardiovascular risk reduction successfully improved heart health, but these efforts did not produce measurable cognitive benefits over two years in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease. In “Effects of Exercise and Intensive Vascular Risk Reduction on Cognitive Function in Older Adults - A Randomized Clinical Trial,” published in JAMA Neurology, researchers, including Dr. Jeffrey Keller of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, shared the results of the Risk Reduction for Alzheimer’s Disease (rrAD) study. They found that interventions that successfully improved cardiovascular health did not translate into measurable cognitive benefits over two years, highlighting a critical gap between vascular risk reduction and brain health.

A new perspective article （Levkina, Vermonden et al.）argues that answering five fundamental questions about ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of cell death, could define the direction of research in the coming decade.

Published in the open-access journal Ferroptosis and Oxidative Stress, the article outlines key conceptual challenges that remain unresolved despite the field's rapid expansion over the past ten years.