“People spend a lot of time and money trying to keep their skin looking young, using everything from creams and masks to high-tech serums. But what if the secret to younger skin has been inside us all along? Scientists have just discovered anti-aging compounds produced by a type of bacteria that lives in our bloodstream. These three molecules helped reduce cell damage and inflammation in lab-grown human skin cells,” reports SciTechDaily:
The research, recently published by the American Chemical Society, points to exciting possibilities for new skin care treatments in the future.
While scientists are still uncovering how microbial by-products, known as metabolites, influence our health, one group of these compounds is already showing serious promise. Indole compounds are known for their anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects. In 2015, researchers identified a unique bacterium in the blood called Paracoccus sanguinis, which naturally produces indole compounds.
Curious about what this microbe might be capable of, researchers Chung Sub Kim, Sullim Lee, and their team decided to take a closer look at the special metabolites it creates.
“We became interested in P. sanguinis because blood-derived microbes are a relatively uncharted area of research,” says Kim. “Given the unique environment of the bloodstream, we believed that studying individual species like P. sanguinis could reveal previously unknown metabolic functions relevant to health and disease.”
The team grew a big batch of P. sanguinis for three days and then extracted the mixture of metabolites the microbes produced. A combination of analytical methods, including spectrometry, isotope labeling, and computational analysis, enabled the team to tease out the chemical structure of 12 individual indole metabolites from this mix, including six that had never been identified.
More at this link.
Researchers recently discovered that blocking a protein could extend lifespans.
A drug to extend dogs’ lives could lead to human life extensions, reports The Guardian. This year, Loyal, a biotech start-up, expects to start selling “a daily, beef-flavored pill” that “could give dogs a minimum of one extra year of healthy life.”
Why for dogs but not humans? Human longevity drugs would require decades-long trials before they could be sold, because of FDA regulations. But drugs for dogs don’t require such trials. So Loyal raised $125 million in funding from firms that won’t invest in drugs to extend human lifespans because they would require lengthy trials.
But Celine Halioua, Loyal’s founder, believes the drug for dogs will eventually benefit humans. “Finding out how to prevent canine age-related decline is a really strong proxy for doing the same with humans because dogs get similar age-related diseases, and share our environments and habits in ways laboratory mice do not,” she said. Her firm is owned by Cellular Longevity, a biotech firm focused on the science of longevity.
Another drug could extend women’s fertility by five years. Yet another drug is being developed that could regrow lost teeth.
