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Aging is a risk factor for many diseases, however, for some people, getting older does not mean an increase in disease. Those who blow out a hundred candles may show better cognitive function and less morbidity than those who live shorter lives. Therefore, centenarians have become the subject of research to find out Profiles that promote a “successful” later life or health.
Andrew MatthewPrincipal Investigator of Frailty and Healthy Aging at CIBER (Siberian power system) and Head of Cell Oncology Group Indian Institute of Technology Bioguipuzcoa”, “There are various studies on cognition and the presence of neurodegenerative diseases in centenarians, and in some cases the data are contradictory, depending on the population with which they are compared. It is well established that centenarians have a lower incidence of neurodegenerative diseases And a certain percentage of centenarians reach that age with better cognitive abilities than octogenarians.”
Life is good as long as you are healthy
So can we say that centenarians have better cognitive abilities than people who die in their 80s? “I would say that Centenarian population Having a longer health and cognitive lifespan means that centenarians do very well in their 80-90s (better than those who die at this age), and it often happens that centenarians live in their last years of life. This will be a case of incidence compressionwhere total life span and healthy life span are almost identical,” qualifies Ander Matheu.
One of the research directions developed by the group focuses on studying Brain biology of centenariansSeveral CIBER teams at IISBiogipuzkoa have participated in a groundbreaking work that has Published in magazine Aging cellsLiftthese scientists have Comparing transcriptomes of hippocampal samples from centenarians The results allow us to determine that centenarians have Differential Molecular Fingerprint Compared with other age groups.
Comparisons of centenarians and non-centenarians showed that those who lived to be a hundred had high levels of genes from the metallothionein family.
Heavy Metal Detoxification
“Of the metallothionein family, four isoforms are known, three of which are specific to the brain and one that is present in all tissues. Our study shows that both isoforms are increased in the brains of centenarians,” explains Matheu.
The main function of this protein family is to “maintain the homeostasis of heavy metals, thus They are protective genes that prevent the accumulation of DNA damage and oxidative stress.”
The researchers also detailed that “previous studies have linked them to aging in animal models. Preclinical models, It has been found that the elimination of metallothioneins can have negative effects at the cellular level, which can affect tissues and the body, leading to Premature aging and cognitive declineConversely, overexpression of metallothioneins can have beneficial effects on longevity. “Our study translates these results to people.”
In addition, studies have shown that the expression of metallothioneins is increased In astrocyte populationsThe discovery of the new study, published in the journal Nature, highlights a biological mechanism involved in the maintenance of cognitive function in centenarians.
“Historically, people have believed that cognitive decline is due to a loss in the number of neurons. However, in recent years, research has shown that Changes in glial cells also occur during aging This is also associated with cognitive decline. Our research is along these lines, but This idea was confirmed from the opposite direction”, Andrew Matthew clarified, because “it is related to A better understanding of astrocyte homeostasis“.
Aging Treatment
Therefore, this work suggests that “maintenance of astrocyte population homeostasis may be a Protection strategy “To develop this idea, the group is now conducting a series of studies that may eventually lead to new treatments to improve the ageing process.
This work was participated by the following teams David Otaeguifrom the Department of Neuroscience at IIS Biogipuzkoa and CIBER Neurodegenerative Diseases (CiberNED) and Amaya Arranz (Achucarro Neuroscience Institute), Martha Arroyo (University of the Basque Country) and the group Francois Guillermo The research was conducted at the Francis Crick Institute (London) and was funded by the Adinberri Call of the Guipúzcoa Provincial Council, the Ministry of Health of the Basque Government and the Carlos III Health Institute.
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