Harvard Researchers Reverse Aging
… in mice.
Anti-aging researchers at Harvard University note, "Current dogma is that aging is irreversible." But maybe that dogma is wrong. In a new study in the journal Cell, the researchers report that they have found a way to manipulate a molecular pathway such they can restore "key biochemical markers of muscle health in a 22-month-old mouse to levels similar to a 6-month-old mouse." The biochemical markers were inflammation, insulin resistance, and muscle wasting. They did not observe an increase in muscle strength.
The researchers identified how the decline of a specific compound—nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)—results in the disruption of molecular communication between the nuclear genomes in cells and their mitochondrial genomes. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells. Falling NAD leads to decline in mitochondrial function that eventually produces the cellular breakdowns that are associated with aging.
Seeking to reverse the decline in NAD, the researchers injected the NAD precursor nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) into the mice for one week. It worked, at least in their muscles. Now the researchers plan to administer the treatment longer term to see if it will give the mice longer, healthier lives.
H/T Nick Schulz