A new study by a team of researchers from the University of California Berkeley shows that age-reversing effects can be obtained by diluting the blood plasma of old mice. By replacing half of the plasma with a combination of saline and albumin, the researchers found significant effects on the rejuvenation of vital organs such as the brain, liver, and muscle.
The researchers said that the albumin in the mixture replaced proteins lost when the original plasma was taken out, and it had the same or even stronger resurgence effects than pairing with young mice blood exchange. Furthermore, they explained that doing the procedure on young mice showed no harmful effects on their health as well.
The same team of researchers previously made a breakthrough discovery of being able to rejuvenate cells in tissue when blood from both young and old mice was conjoined. However, their new study shifts the prevailing ideal of rejuvenation away from young blood and focusing on working on old blood in itself.
According to Irina Conboy, a professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley, the findings of their new study point out that dilution of old blood is sufficient and that young blood or its factors are not necessary to establish a rejuvenating effect. The full findings of the study were published in the journal Aging on May 30, 2020.
Young Blood Transfusion Not Anymore Necessary For Rejuvenating Effects
In 2005, the same team of researchers from UC Berkeley discovered that sharing blood and organs of young and old mice can regenerate tissues and reverse the signs of aging in mice. The finding sparked theories that a young mouse's blood might contain unique properties that could act as a "fountain of youth" for both mice and humans.
In their new study, the researchers found that instead of adding proteins from young blood, the dilution of age-elevated proteins alone could already be therapeutic.
Additionally, they say adding blood from young mice could also potentially harm a patient. They say that this new approach would increase the number of young proteins by eliminating factors that could cut them off.
According to Dobri Kiprov, a medical director of Apheresis Care Group and a co-author of the paper, it might take some time before people give up the idea that young blood is essential for rejuvenation and for stopping the aging process. He adds that the team hopes their findings open pathways to more research on plasma exchange, not just for aging in mice and humans but also for immunomodulation.
Reset Button For Aging
After the discovery that the neutral blood exchange essentially improved the health of old mice, the team conducted a proteomic investigation of the blood plasma of the animals to discover how the proteins in their blood altered after the procedure. The researchers also did a similar analysis of blood plasma from humans who underwent therapeutic plasma exchange.
In the analysis, the researchers found that the plasma exchange process behaves almost like a molecular reset button. The mechanism was found to lower the concentrations of many pro-inflammatory proteins that increase with age, while granting more beneficial proteins, like those that bolster vascularization to rebound in huge numbers.
Although some of the proteins may be looked at as additional therapeutic or drug candidates, Conboy warns that it is unlikely that alterations in any single protein could transpose aging in mice. As a next step, the research team is about to handle clinical trials to comprehend better how therapeutic blood exchange might best be used to treat human conditions of aging.
