- A Stanford team has discovered how to reverse brain aging and restore mental acuity, a discovery that could one day lead to medications that treat medical conditions and cognitive decline.
- Researchers have found a way to block the inflammation responsible for the cognitive decline that comes with age.
- Using drugs adapted to block the link between a particular hormone and a receptor, the researchers restored the normal function of aging immune cells.
- They observed that the drug-treated mice regained their memory and spatial orientation skills, performing as well as younger animals in similar tests.
The aging process is a risk factor in most medical conditions. The older your body and mind, the harder it is to do most things, including fighting an infection like the novel coronavirus. But several teams of researchers are looking at different ways to slow down aging, reverse aging or remove organs. In the latter category are researchers at Stanford, who could have learned how to reverse brain aging.
It seems that the immune system is at least partly to blame for aging the brain. Scientists have discovered a process of reversing mental aging in mice, and the experiments also worked on human cells in laboratory tests. However, these are only the first steps towards creating medications that could be used in a day to prevent medical conditions associated with cognitive decline.
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The team of Dr. Katrin Andreasson published a study in The nature describing their initial work for brain de-aging. As Stanford Medicine Biologists have long theorized that inflammation could be responsible for the aging process. Reducing it could slow down the onset of certain conditions, such as loss of mental acuity, or even prevent the disease altogether. Andreasson’s team could have found out what causes some immune cells to promote inflammatory processes in the body and how to prevent them.
The team found that a type of immune cell called myeloid cells (such as macrophages) goes into excess as they age, causing inflammation in tissues, including the brain. Myeloid cells are thought to clean up debris, provide nutrients to other cells, and monitor pathogens. But as they get older, they start to behave badly and this damages the nearby tissue.
The researchers found that blocking the interaction of a specific hormone (PGE2) and a receptor (EP2) is enough to restore the young metabolism and placid temperament of mouse and human myeloid cells in a vessel and in live mice. Experimental drugs have been able to reverse cognitive decline in mice, restoring memory and navigation skills to levels comparable to young mice.
“If you adjust your immune system, you can discolor your brain,” Andreasson said Stanford Medicine.
The problem with the PGE2-EP2 link is “a double mistake”. Myeloid cells, such as macrophages, produce more PGE2 than younger ones and have more EP2 receptors on their surface. This leads to increased processes that cause local inflammation. EP2 is found on immune cells, including myeloid cells, and can initiate inflammatory activity inside cells after binding to PGE2.
Andreasson’s team tried two experimental drugs that blocked the PGE2-EP2 link. This caused the older myeloid cells to behave in the same way as the younger versions, reversing their inflammatory activities in laboratory tests with incubated mice and human macrophages. Regarding live mice, older subjects who received the drugs also performed in recall and space navigation tests, as did the younger mice, and indicate that the drugs may discolor the brain. One of the drugs was effective, even though it did not enter the blood-brain barrier.
While this research looks promising, the team is far from clinical trials for drugs that could slow or reverse conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. Andreasson said neither of the two drugs tested could be used in humans, citing potential toxic side effects. But the study could lead to different compounds that could be safe for human testing in the future and could ultimately help prevent cognitive decline after a certain age.
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Chris Smith began writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it, he was sharing his views on technology with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write about gadgets, he can’t stay away from them, even though he tries desperately. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.