Aging is a natural process we can’t avoid. A wide variety of factors contribute to skin aging including hormonal changes, diet, lifestyle and excessive exposure to the sun. The main causes of aging are Senescent Cells or Zombie Cells. With the growing age, increased number of cells becomes senescent. These Senescent Cells no longer support the tissue they belong to but instead radiate some harmful particles that cause the nearby cells to enter the state of senescence. A number of researches are being carried out to study the effects of these Zombie Cells and the methods to deal with them and make you look younger. Probably with these drugs you might be able to get back to the dating sites and start enjoying your youth once again.
Senescent cells are removed on their own through a process named apoptosis and are eliminated by the body’s immune system. As the immune system weakens with increasing age, a higher number of senescent cells escape the process and accumulate. When people reach old age, this number grows significant and this leads to the process of aging. Though it is impossible to stop the aging process, there are some ways we can reverse it.
Methods To Get Rid Of Senescent Cells
Here, we take a look at some of the recently developed rejuvenation therapies and drugs that help get rid of Senescent cells, thereby fighting accelerated aging and age-related chronic diseases.
Senolytic
Senolytics are a new class of drugs known to work on the destruction of the stubborn senescent cells from the body, reducing the inflammation and enhancing the tissue function. The senolytic agents are under research and development carried out to achieve the goal of delaying, preventing or reversing age-related problems. A number of senolytic agents are currently being investigated. A possible senolytic agent named Navitoclax was used in a laboratory study on aged mice and the results indicated reduced senescent cells. Till date, 14 senolytics have been identified including antibodies and small molecules and each of the senolytics is capable of killing a specific type of senescent cells.
The good thing is that senescent cells need to be cleared once in a while to delay or prevent aging diseases. Thus, there are reduced chances of side effects. And there is no need to kill every senescent cell in a tissue as discarding most of them would really make the difference. However, currently, active senolytic agents have their own drawbacks. They are known to kill healthy cells and can trigger other side effects like reduced count of platelets thereby affecting our blood clotting capacity. These cancer-killing compounds are under investigation and if they continue proving safe, can be used for reversing aging.
Quercetin
A plant-derived health-food supplement, Quercetin is basically a bioflavonoid obtained from fruits and vegetables. It is found in the highest levels in onions and apples. Quercetin offer caffeine-like effects but is less potent and has anti-atherogenic, anti-oxidant and anti-carcinogenic properties. Studies show that Quercetin has the ability to clear the senescent cells from the body without causing any harm to healthy cells and thus assists decelerate aging. This compound is known to protect a person against diseases of lungs, hearts, brain, bones and intestinal tract and against accelerated aging.
An interesting research from the Mayo clinic indicates the promising potential of Quercetin as an aging-reversal nutrient. A past research showed that Quercetin can remove up to 30% of senescent cells and to dig further on this, researchers tested about 46 compounds which were known to trigger the death of cells. This study left them with Quercetin and dasatinib that delivered anti-aging benefits without any harmful reactions. On treating human cell cultures with Quercetin, the number of senescent cells was seen to decrease denoting the ability of the drug to slow aging and increase lifespan.
It works by activating an enzyme named SIRT1 that prevents the inflammatory effects of Zombie cells, eliminating their toxicity and seizing aging process. Quercetin is found in green and black tea, cranberries, apples, onions, citrus fruits, red grapes and green leafy vegetables and one can add this anti-aging supplement to diet easily.
FOXO4 DRI
A member of the family of proteins, FOXO4 is responsible for various cell functions in human body. Recently, a drug called FOXO4 DRI peptide that acts like the body protein is invented and known to help reverse aging due to senescent cells. When this drug is introduced into the senescent cells, the protein named p53, responsible for apoptosis, binds with FOXO4 DRI, breaking away from FOXO4. This causes it to become free from the nucleus of the cells to be able to boost apoptosis of the cell, killing the senescent cells.
A study carried out on mice having a large number of senescent cells showed that when FOXO4 DRI was introduced, the senescent cells died successfully. A significant part of the damage done by chemotherapy was reversed with this effect. FOXO4 DRI was tried on naturally aged mice too and the results were seen to be amazing. Aged mice that were given this drug got healthier and more active and started showing behavior attributing to young mice. FOXO4 DRI is one of the biggest and the most promising discoveries in the anti-aging world and it is actually capable of reversing aging.
Of course, it is impossible to stop aging but these methods can surely slow it down for you!
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