Young human blood might prevent old bodies from ageing! No, this is not some vampire-story, but the conclusion to a new scientific study recently presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in San Diego.
Acting Younger Because of Injected Teenager Blood
Injecting blood obtained from teenagers can come with rejuvenating powers: when scientists tried this in one-year-old mice (which is old for mice), they found that the latter behaved like younger versions of themselves, also displaying improved memory.
The team of researchers, from a California-based biopharmaceutical firm named Alkahest, initially collected blood samples from healthy 18-year-old humans. The plasma obtained from this blood was, then, administered to the animals twice a week for three weeks. Bear in mind that one-year-old mice are comparable to 50-year-old humans.
The behavioural change of the animals was ascertained when the mice participants were compared with young and old control groups which had not been injected with the blood plasma. The findings show that the teenager-blood caused the old mice to act like younger ones: they were physically more active in the open spaces where they were studied like the young control mice.
To test the memory of the mice, the scientists made use of a device to quantify spatial learning and memory called Barnes maze. Previous research shows that old mice display poor performance when this tool is used to evaluate their memory. This general principle did not, however, apply to the mice in the study. Rather, they delivered results similar to those of young mice.
Have Teenager Blood to Rejuvenate Yourself!
Magical Component: Proteins in Young Blood
What makes younger blood more alluring? According to co-author Karoly Nikolich, proteins characterising young plasma as opposed to old ones might be the answer; young blood allegedly has more rejuvenating proteins. On the other hand, ageing plasma has more ‘inflammatory proteins‘.
These proteins might affect cognition as they apparently cross over to the brain. This was suggested after the team found more newly-formed neurones in the brains of the mice given the treatment than in the control groups. This development would boost the ability of the mice to memorise information.
Sadly, the findings are not published yet, nor have they been peer-reviewed. But, the authors promise that the final results will be made available by the end of the year.