Coenzyme raises hope for eternal youth

Coenzyme raises hope for eternal youth

22/12/2013

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered that a coenzyme not only slows but even reverses the aging process of cells. The discovery raises once again the hope for an eternal youth.

Dream of eternal youth
Since time immemorial, the dream of the eternal youth exists. Over time, people came up with various, sometimes crazy ideas to extend life. Freezing yourself and later thawing is one of the most bizarre considerations. On the other hand, methods such as gene therapy or hormone replacement seemed more down-to-earth. But American scientists have discovered that it may be much easier to reverse aging.

From old to new
Researchers from Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and other researchers from Portugal and Australia have discovered that a coenzyme that makes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) old cells back to young. NAD is an enzyme known as „shuttle information“ Protons and electrons are transported from one corner of the cell to the other. This has been known to science for some time. In the body there is plenty of NAD to ensure this essential process of metabolism. Now, however, it has turned out that the crowd plays an essential role.

Coenzyme reverses the aging process of cells
This has been found out by a team led by the prominent age researcher David Sinclair. The scientists have found in experiments on mice that an increased concentration of NAD not only slow down age processes, but even reverse, so can undo. They report this in a contribution in the trade magazine „Cell“. („“Above all, NAD has a positive effect on the function of the mitochondrion, the „Energy power plant“ the cell and thus the life of a cell can be extended.

Signs of aging form back
The cell organelles lose their creative power with age and so the researchers write „Cell“-Post: „One of the most conserved and robust phenomena of biology is a progressive decline in mitochondrial function with age. This leads to a loss of cellular balance and health.“ However, with the help of NAD, both could be restored. Already after a week, signs of aging recede when cells are given a precursor to NAD. The cells of two-year-old mice resembled those of a six-month-old mouse after an NAD cure.

Anti-aging from the faucet
However, there is still a problem with administration of NAD. It makes a significant difference in the slowing down of the aging process, whether it is individual cells or, as in humans, the entire organism. In a follow-up experiment, Sinclair and his colleagues plan to deliver NAD to the drinking water. There is hope to slow down the development of chronic diseases such as Alzheimer's or diabetes with this anti-aging agent from the tap.

Treatment of people far away
However, the treatment of humans is currently still a long way off. „However, based on what we know today, it may not be the case that a drug from the age of 20 years to death should be taken. It seems to be enough to start with, when we are already older,“ said Ana Gomes, one of the authors of the study. However, it is crucial that the human is not so old that damage has occurred. According to the scientist, getting older could be a lot more comfortable if you started taking it around the age of 40. However, this is currently only a guess, which must first be proven by appropriate study results. (Ad)