More and more studies show the dramatic effects of blood plasma from young people given to both older humans and animals. The latest study shows that old mice showed signs of rejuvenation after transfusions with human blood.
A team of researchers from the pharmaceutical company Alkahest in California have taken blood samples from a group of 18-year-oldhuman testsubjects and injected them into 12 monthsold mice. That age in mouse terms is about the same as 50 year old human body. The results are exciting and seem to confirm the findings of several other recent studies into rejuvenation.
The mice received injections of blood plasma twice a week for three weeks.The researchersthencompared the micethat got infusions ofteenage bloodwith control groups of mice at 3 and 12 months respectively.
The comparison showed thatphysically,the elderly mice suddenly behaved like young rodentswhen they had received the transfusionsfor a couple of weeks. Their memory also seemed to improve to match the level of much younger mice.
Scientists believe that the rejuvenationisdue to differences in the proteins inblood plasma from young and old bodies.Youngbloodplasma contains some proteins, which disappears with age andseem to be replaced by destructive molecules.
As for the exact nature of these proteins, the researchers won’t publish those details yet. But they do say that the proteins clearly have a negative effect on both the body and the brain. When untreated older mouse brains were dissected and compared to the treated ones, the results showed that the treated brains had greater amounts of newly formed neurons than the older brains.
“Wehave actually,for the first time, discovered that there are hundreds of proteins that change with age,” says neurologist Karoly Nikolich to CBS.The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neurosciences, but has not yetbeenpublished or peer-reviewed. However, previous studies have shown similar results.The researchers will examineif young blood plasma can do the same for olderpeople and thus help in the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease
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