- A Stanford team has discovered how to reverse aging in the brain and restore mental acuity, a breakthrough that could one day lead to drugs that treat medical conditions and cognitive decline.
- The researchers found a way to block the inflammation responsible for the cognitive decline that comes with age.
- Using drugs designed to block the link between a specific hormone and a receptor, the researchers restored the normal function of immune cells that become confused with age.
- They noted that mice treated with the drug regained memory and spatial orientation skills and performed just as well as younger animals in similar tests.
The aging process is a risk factor in most medical conditions. The older the mind and body, the harder it is to do most things, including fighting an infection like the new coronavirus. But different teams of researchers are looking at different ways to slow aging, reverse aging, or age some organs. In the latter category are Stanford researchers, who may have figured out how to reverse aging in the brain.
It turns out that the immune system is at least partially responsible for aging the brain. The scientists devised a process to reverse mental aging in mice, and the experiments also worked on human cells in laboratory tests. However, these are just the first steps towards creating drugs that can ever be used to prevent medical conditions related to cognitive decline.
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Dr. Katrin Andreasson published a study in Nature describing their initial work to reduce brain aging. Such as Stanford Medicine explains, biologists have long theorized that inflammation could be responsible for the aging process. Reducing it can delay the onset of certain conditions, such as the loss of mental acuity, or even prevent the conditions completely. Andreasson’s team may have discovered 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) go into overdrive as they age and cause inflammation in tissues, including the brain. The myeloid cells are supposed to clean up debris, provide nutrients to other cells, and watch for pathogens. But as they get older they start to misbehave and this damages nearby tissue.
The researchers found that blocking the interaction of a specific hormone (PGE2) and a receptor (EP2) is enough to “restore the youthful metabolism and calm temperament of mouse and human myeloid cells in a dish and in living mice” . The experimental drugs were able to reverse cognitive decline in mice and restore memory and navigation skills to levels comparable to that of young mice.
“If you modify the immune system, you can reduce brain aging,” Andreasson said Stanford Medicine.
The problem with the PGE2-EP2 link is “a double whammy”. Myeloid cells, like macrophages, produce more PGE2 than younger ones, and they 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 it can initiate inflammatory activity in the cells upon binding to PGE2.
Andreasson’s team tried two experimental drugs that blocked the PGE2-EP2 link. This caused aged myeloid cells to behave just like younger versions and to reverse their inflammatory activities in laboratory tests with incubated mice and human macrophages. As for the live mice, the older subjects who received the drugs performed as well in recall and spatial navigation tests as younger mice, indicating that the drugs may age the brain. One of the drugs was effective, even though it did not cross the blood-brain barrier.
While this research sounds promising, the team is nowhere near clinical trials of drugs that can slow or reverse conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. Andreasson said neither of the two test medications can be used on humans, citing potential toxic side effects. But the study could lead to several compounds that may be safe for human testing in the future, and that could ultimately help prevent cognitive decline after a certain age.
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Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby and before he knew it, he shared his thoughts on tech matters with readers around the world. When not writing about gadgets, he sadly fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.