[Animal Modeling]-Fresh blood prevents the cognitive decline of old mice

  According to foreign media reports, blood transfusion may help improve the health of elderly patients. A new study tests the ability of blood to treat Parkinson's disease. Researchers at Stanford University tried to inject blood from young mice into older mice. They found that fresh blood prevented the cognitive decline of old mice, as we saw in vampire novels.

  Currently, a researcher is participating in the establishment of a new company that is trying to inject certain blood components from young blood donors into elderly Parkinson's disease patients. The company's ultimate goal is to develop a method of synthesizing active ingredients in blood. Since the number of young people trying to donate blood is very limited, the direct use of human blood has been criticized.

  As they grow older, their bodies undergo a series of changes, including blood changes. Changes in blood supply are subtle, but they can also have a major impact on our overall health and ability to fight other age-related diseases.

  With age, the body's water content begins to decrease. Obviously, this will also affect the blood flow in the blood vessels. On the other hand, the efficiency of the bone marrow to produce red blood cells gradually decreases. The number of red blood cells is considered an important indicator of aging, and its reduction is called one of the "signals" of death. The white blood cell count also decreases slightly with age. White blood cells are important blood cells in the blood and are part of the immune system, helping the body fight infections and foreign bodies. Although these changes are small, there is evidence that young blood contains certain components that can effectively fight aging. But the mechanism is still unknown. At Stanford University, neuroscience professor Tony Wyss-Coray and his laboratory reduced the useful part of young people’s blood to a very small part, but still contained about 1,000 proteins. It was when the research team injected this part of blood into older children. In the rat's body, huge changes were seen. The cognitive decline of old mice was reversed, new brain cells were able to grow, and the performance of cognitive tests was similar to that of young mice. Next, the research team is preparing to adopt a two-way approach to develop new therapies.

  We are testing the effects of each protein one by one. This is a tedious but very important process of determining that a protein has a therapeutic effect. At the same time, Alkaghest, a biotechnology company founded by Dr. Wise Corey, is conducting a study on 90 Parkinson’s disease patients to see whether young people’s blood also has a protective effect on the brain. done

  The first patient received the first injection on December 4, 2018. If the experiment is promising, and parallel studies have successfully identified the main components in the blood, then the research team may have a comprehensive foundation.

  In the United States, approximately 6.8 million donates blood each year, and less than 38% of the population is eligible to donate blood or platelets. In previous experiments, researchers injected blood from young people between 18 and 30 years old (mainly in the 70s to 80s). According to last year’s analysis, Americans in this age group are the least active in donating blood.

  Even if more donor blood is transfused to the elderly, it will cause moral problems. When asked about this research, many people frowned. Therefore, finding a way to synthesize "young blood" may be the key to making this promising (somewhat weird) treatment a reality.