As we age, our immune system tends to go haywire. It can become sluggish in responding to infections, fail to recognize intruders entirely, or, as is common, begin to attack our healthy cells, leading to the low-grade inflammation that has been identified as a cause of ailments from cancer to dementia.
A key culprit is a hormone called prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). White blood cells in the immune system produce more of it as we age, and it’s been shown to inflame those cells, causing them to malfunction.
In tests with mice and cultured human cells, researchers at Stanford University charted the process by which PGE2 disrupts those immune system cells – and then saw the cells revert to youthful vigor when an experimental drug blocked PGE2 from binding to the cells that produced it.
The result: elderly mice receiving the drug reversed cognitive decline, performing as well as youngsters in a series of cognitive tests, such as remembering their way through a maze.
The new drug “de-ages the brain,” the researchers said.
Further animal tests will be conducted before human trials can be planned.
TRENDPOST: Inhibiting an old body’s production of PGE2 could not only rejuvenate the brain but prevent a range of diseases now associated with aging. If the drug proves its effectiveness in human trials, in the decades ahead, we may routinely get injections of it the way older folks get B-12 shots now.
