A well-known antioxidant will help delay aging

Detoxifying therapy slows down aging

Denis Strigun, Naked Science

American scientists have concluded that the active compound of acetylcysteine – a detoxifying drug – may have anti-aging effects in preventive doses. The results of the work are published in Redox Biology (Thomas et al., Glutathione maintenance mitigates age-related susceptibility to redox cycling agents).

Acetylcysteine (NAC) is a mucolytic and detoxifying agent. Now it is used in high doses as part of emergency medical care for severe poisoning. The active agent of the drug is glutathione – a tripeptide, which is normally contained in the cells of the body and protects them from toxic free radicals.

In a new paper, scientists analyzed the detoxification mechanism in which glutathione is involved. The authors took samples of hepatocytes (liver cells) from young and mature mice, after which they treated the cells with menadion, a toxic compound. Thus, they artificially created conditions for the consumption of glutathione by cells.

The results showed that the cells of young animals lost significantly less glutathione during processing. Thus, it did not decrease by more than 35 percent, whereas in the cells of mature mice, as a result of exposure, the concentration of the compound could sharply decrease to 10 percent. At the same time, pretreatment with glutathione reduced the toxic effect by half.

Diagram from an article in Redox Biology – VM

"The cells of young individuals turned out to be much more resistant to stress than mature ones. But the pretreatment of NAC increased the level of glutathione in the cells of mature mice and largely compensated for the rate of cell death," said co–author Tory Hagen. He added that the reduction of glutathione is also correlated with cancer and diabetes in humans.

In addition to considering glutathione as a means of preventing aging, the authors suggested that it can be used to neutralize the side effects of a number of drugs. Detoxifying effects of the compound are relevant, in particular, in chemotherapy. Acetylcysteine could potentially be prescribed to the elderly to improve metabolism, scientists say.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  28.10.2016