Aging,
one of life’s inevitable certainties, has been a hot topic of research for a number
of years. From the obvious fabled stories promising the elixir of life to the questionable anecdotes of
individuals who swear by supplements or regimens, anti-aging has always appeared to be a wild goose
chase. But now, scientists may be closer than they have ever been to identifying anti-aging agents.
Stanford University’s Prof. Tony Wyss-Coray has laid a milestone in the search by what is known as blood
rejuvenation.
Prof. Wyss-Coray began his research career in 1993 at the prestigious Scripps Research Institute in La
Jolla, California. His initial studies involved work on Alzheimer’s and other dementia related diseases,
which led to a faculty position at Stanford University. Prof. Wyss-Coray suspected that blood might
hold the answer to diagnose Alzheimer’s before it manifested its symptoms and the analysis produced
interesting results in protein level discrepancies with aging, setting the premise for anti-aging blood
treatment.
Although the idea sounds medieval, it is far from it. Elegant and straightforward, it involves
treating old mice with young mice blood and vice versa via blood transfusion. In an initial attempt to
identify blood-based protein biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease, Prof. Wyss-Coray and his research
group found that the biggest fluctuations in proteins occurred due to aging, rather than to a
specific disease. As a result, they demonstrated that old mice treated with young blood showed
marked growth of brain cells from the hippocampus. More surprisingly, old mice blood on young
mice also had effects of delaying their growth of brain cells, deeming them to be biologically
older than they were in reality.
As humans age, the connections between neurons deteriorate, causing neurodegenerative
diseases. Subsequent studies revealed that these proteins also participate in other biological
pathways including inflammation and repair. Inspired by past research that showed blood
rejuvenation could rejuvenate muscles and the pancreas, Professor Wyss-Coray turned
to the brain, the most complex and important organ, ultimately showing that blood
rejuvenation could produce the same rejuvenating effects on brains as on other organs.
Research in aging does not come without its difficulties. Their studies indisputably lie
slightly outside of the box and garner a healthy amount of scepticism, meaning that the
biggest challenge they have encountered is seeking funding. Any inkling of promising
data that they have published has also been clamoured for by patients or people
who wish to extend their lives. “Since we have no clinical evidence yet that our
findings can be applied to humans, I keep having to tell these people that
they have to wait for many more years until clinical trials show efficacy”.
Tests done on mice could take years, let alone on humans. The entire
process would begin from the breeding of lab mice for the specific studies
and then waiting for them to be mature. A lab mouse’s lifespan is typically
between two to three years. Thus aging research takes much longer to
obtain results than other types of research.
If their findings on the malleability of mice brains can be
translated to humans, young plasma could have applications
beyond aging, such as in wound healing. “For any of these,
clinical studies would have to be done and those are
expensive”. The team is currently
attempting to identify
“rejuvenating factors” to understand which tissues
produce them and their communication pathways
with the brain.
“In the long term, we want to use fractions of
plasma or find individual factors which could be
more potent and treat more people,”
Professor Wyss-Coray said
.
