We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ippei Shimizu from National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, Japan will join Second Conjoint RIKEN – ISM 2026 as a speaker and give a presentation entitled “Trimethylamine N-Oxide (TMAO) Increases with Age in Circulation and Promotes Sarcopenia“.

Summary:

Dr. Ippei Shimizu, a leader in cardiovascular science, will talk about how the gut microbiota-derived metabolite TMAO emerges as a critical age-associated factor linking metabolic dysregulation to mitochondrial remodeling and sarcopenia.

Building on his team’s prior findings that TMAO is elevated in heart failure patients and induces mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolomic analyses now reveal that circulating TMAO levels increase with aging in both mice and humans. During his talk, he will present evidence that TMAO disrupts mitochondrial ultrastructure, independently of autophagy or endothelial senescence. Notably, TMAO infusion reduced running capacity in middle-aged mice, with skeletal muscle phenotypes mirroring those of aged animals, identifying TMAO as a mechanistic link between gut microbial metabolism and sarcopenia.

This presentation aligns closely with the themes of Session 2: Microbial Metabolites as Strategic Mediators of Host Health, connecting the diet–microbiota–metabolite axis with the therapeutic potential of targeting microbial signaling molecules in age-related cardiovascular and musculoskeletal decline.