United States: Scientists at Imperial College have made a breakthrough in anti-aging research which could help people live longer and healthier lives. Their new study found that by switching off a protein called interleukin 11 (IL-11), they were able to extend the lifespan of middle-aged mice by 25%.
This discovery not only prevented cancer but also improved the mice’s vision, hearing, metabolism, lung health, and muscle function. The research also suggests that this approach might prevent common aging issues such as hair loss and greying.
IL-11 Blockage Improves Health and Delays Aging in Mice
Prof Stuart Cook, from the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Science, at Imperial, said: “These findings are very exciting.
“The treated mice had lesser chances and were free from the usual signs of ageing and frailty, but we also saw reduced muscle wasting and improvement in muscle strength. In other words, the old mice receiving anti-IL11 (treatment) were healthier.
“While these findings are only in mice, it raises the tantalising possibility that the drugs could have a similar effect in elderly humans.”
Historical Gene Adaptation Linked to Aging Process
Humans inherited the interleukin-11 gene from fish hundreds of millions of years ago.
But while the adaptation was useful then – and still helps limb regeneration in some species – it is now thought to be largely redundant in humans and caused thickening and scarring of the tissues and inflammation, which brings ageing and disease.
As reported in The telegraph, Researchers hit upon the idea that silencing IL-11 might be implicated in ageing after noticing that the protein increases dramatically in laboratory animals with age.
Exciting Discoveries from Experiments with Anti-IL-11 Treatment
Anissa Widjaja, an assistant professor at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, which was working with Imperial, said: “Out of curiosity, I ran some experiments to check for IL-11 levels. From the readings, we could clearly see that the levels of IL-11 increased with age and that’s when we got really excited.
On the other hand scientists treated 75-week-old mice – the equivalent of about 55 years in humans – with an injection of an anti-IL-11 antibody, which stops the effects of the IL-11 in the body.
Experts have said the results were “dramatic”. The mice lived up to 25 per cent longer, and the treatment significantly reduced deaths from cancer in the animals, as well as preventing diseases caused by fibrosis, chronic inflammation, and poor metabolism.