As the human body ages, it accumulates a growing number of “senescent” cells that lose their ability to work properly or even go dormant. As more of these cells build up, the symptoms of ageing become more pronounced – everything from dementia to crepe-like skin.
“Senolytic” drugs that could clear away senescent cells have been in the lab for some time. But now scientists at the Mayo Clinic have shown for the first time that a senolytic drug actually can sweep senescent cells out of the human body without creating collateral damage.
Nine people with diabetic kidney disease were given three daily doses of dasatinab, one of the Mayo Clinic’s senolytics, combined with quercitin, a plant pigment known to reduce inflammation and scavenge free radicals from the body.
Although the drug doses cleared out of the body within 48 hours, senescent cells continued to flush from kidney tissue for at least 11 days.
TRENDPOST: Senolytic drugs will draw an increasing focus of research attention and dollars as demand grows for therapies that manage and forestall the processes of aging. By 2030, senolytics will be a routine part of physicians’ anti-aging therapy portfolio.
