Novel Anti-Aging Treatment Shows Immense Promise in Animal Studies

In what is being described as a significant step towards extending lifespan, researchers have identified a drug combination that can slow aging.

According to The Independent, researchers working at The Scripps Research Institute and Mayo Clinic have developed a technique to identify senescent cells, cells which have stopped dividing and accumulate to bring about aging. The team experimented with a combination of cancer drug dasatinib and antihistamine quercetin to find dramatic slowdown of aging in animal studies.

"We view this study as a big, first step toward developing treatments that can be given safely to patients to extend healthspan or to treat age-related diseases and disorders. When senolytic agents, like the combination we identified, are used clinically, the results could be transformative," said Professor Paul Robbins at Scripps.

Besides identifying the combination, the highlight of the study is its method to corner senescent cells without harming healthy cells. Researchers made use of the fact that senescent cells resist body's programmed cell death, much like cancer cells.

A single dose of the drug combination improved heart function in old mice within five days. The effect lasted seven months, delaying spine degeneration and osteoporosis.

"The prototypes of these senolytic agents have more than proven their ability to alleviate multiple characteristics associated with aging. It may eventually become feasible to delay, prevent, alleviate or even reverse multiple chronic diseases and disabilities as a group, instead of just one at a time," said Mayo Clinic Professor James Kirkland.

Researchers said further studies are needed before human testing can begin, the. The findings have been published in the journal Aging Cell.