Recently, the news that "Chinese scientists discovered a blockbuster anti-aging substance PCC1 and published it in the world's top scientific journal "Nature Metabolism" went viral on the Internet, which emphasized the "powerful efficacy" of PCC1, calling it "the strongest senescent cell scavenger", "a new milestone in anti-aging", and "64.2%" life extension.
The Red Star News reporter combed and found that the news about PCC1 originated from an article published on the official website of the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on December 6, which introduced the research of the Sun Yu research group of the institute on the potential of PCC1 to eliminate senescent cell drugs, which was published online in Nature Metabolism. At the end of the article, it is mentioned that the relevant work has also been funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and By-Health.
↑Screenshot of the official website of the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health
After the "efficacy" of PCC1 was continuously emphasized and reported, some netizens pointed out that the laboratory results and clinical efficacy are still far behind, and some people question whether PCC1 can really anti-aging and prolong human life. Some people also said that when they saw Tomson Byjian, they still didn't understand what was going on?
In this regard, the Red Star News reporter consulted experts in the field of nutrition and food research. Experts said that anti-aging drugs require a combination of multiple substances, and a single substance is far from enough. Second, PCC1 is only based on animal discoveries and has not yet entered the clinical stage.
"In the article published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is only said that 'the drug is a potential new anti-aging drug, which can be used for the body's life extension and anti-aging treatment', and does not point out that it has been effective for the human body." But after commercial packaging, it has become an "anti-aging artifact", and netizens need to be cautious. Some experts said.
A new type of "immortal medicine" is about to come out? Pharmaceutical investors are impressed
It is understood that PCC1, a member of the proanthocyanidin family of plant components C1, is a flavonoid substance derived from grape seed extract. With the news that "the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered an anti-aging artifact" is not far away, whether the potential drug has epoch-making significance, is it the legendary "immortal drug", for a time, this kind of conjecture caused heated discussion on the Internet, and more investors heard the wind.
On December 9, an investor asked by-the-Company, who is said to be one of the project funders, "Can PCC1 not only selectively target the removal of senescent cells but also promote tumor regression?" Is it possible to prevent and alleviate physiological dysfunction or related diseases caused by senescent cells?
Coincidentally, other pharmaceutical companies have also received inquiries from investors. Some investors asked Zuoli Pharmaceutical that PCC1 extracted from specific grape seeds can remove senescent cells, and PCC1 is used alone for senescent mice, helping them extend the healthy median life of 64.2%, which is called "a new milestone in the fight against aging" by the industry. Zuoli Pharmaceutical responded that the company will pay close attention to scientific research results in anti-aging and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Red Star News noted that the news about PCC1 originated from an article on the official website of the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on December 6 - "Sun Yu Research Group of the Institute of Nutrition and Health Reveals that C1 (PCC1), a member of the proanthocyanidin family of plant components, is a potential new Senolytics drug (that is, a selective drug to remove senescent cells) and can be used for life extension and anti-aging treatments in the body." On December 7, the Institute's Sun Yu Research Group published a research paper titled "The flavonoid procyanidin C1 has senotherapeutic activity and increases lifespan in mice" in the journal Nature Metabolism online.
↑ Screenshot of the content of the paper
The study screened and found that grape seed extract (GSE) had a role in scavenging senescent cells, while its component PCC1 was able to selectively induce apoptosis in senescent cells. Combined with a variety of mouse models, the research team comprehensively revealed the remarkable effect and mechanism of PCC1 in removing senescent cells in mice, improving the treatment efficiency of aging-related diseases, and prolonging the lifespan of elderly mice. The study shows that PCC1 is a new generation of anti-aging drugs with high medical translational value.
According to the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, the removal of senescent cells has always been considered by the scientific community to be one of the most promising means, but in the past, the removal accuracy was not high enough, and it will hurt normal cells, so it has not been landed for many years. The team studied for a long time to break through this obstacle, roughly screened nearly a thousand substances, and then screened on a large scale from a library of 46 natural raw materials for plants, and finally discovered the utility of PCC1.
In the body of the paper, when the team used PCC1 alone on tumor mice, it could only maintain the tumor status quo; but when PCC1 was used with chemotherapy drugs, the tumor volume was reduced by about 55.2% compared with the previous single drug, which is precisely because PCC1 cleared the senescent cells and improved the drug environment, it can be said that PCC1 is a powerful accelerant of chemotherapy drugs. When PCC1 was used in healthy mice, the effect of increasing longevity was significant. After the research team gave PCC1 to nearly 100 24-month-old experimental animals (equivalent to humans 75 years old), many of their external performance was improved, and their survival was extended by 64.2%.
Red Star News noted that the co-first author of the paper is Xu Qixia, a postdoctoral fellow at the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, and Professor Fu Qiang of Binzhou Medical College, and Sun Yu, a researcher, is the corresponding author of the paper. Several senior scientists in the field of international aging, including Judith Campisi of the Buck Institute on Aging in the United States and Professor James Kirkland of the Mayo Clinic in the United States, have actively supported the project. The work has been funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and By-Health.
According to public information, Nature Metabolism is one of the new sub-publications of nature magazine, involving cell metabolism, aging, circadian rhythms, dietary health, and metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Dr. Christoph Schmitt, former Senior Editor and Team Manager at Nature Communications, serves as editor-in-chief of the journal.
There are many substances that play anti-aging and anti-tumor effects, but they are not really applied to the human body
For the "powerful effect" of the network, many netizens questioned: whether PCC1 is effective as rumored, whether it is a "new milestone in anti-aging", whether it can really extend the survival period to 64.2%, how likely is it to be effectively applied to the clinical stage, and is there any effective anti-aging food or drug at present? With questions, Red Star News consulted several experts in the field of medicines and hygiene.
According to experts, PCC1 is mainly antioxidant, and through antioxidants to reduce aging cells, similar conclusions have long been established. The in-depth study of functional evaluation and verification in the above paper may be one of its highlights.
On the other hand, Zhang Zhaofeng, associate professor of nutrition and food hygiene at the School of Public Health of Peking University, told Red Star News that from the article, PCC1 is only a single body, but anti-aging requires a variety of substances to be compounded, and a single substance is far from enough. Professor Ding, who has long been engaged in the research and development of anti-aging drugs in the School of Pharmacy of Wuhan University, also expressed a similar view, she pointed out that in anti-aging, nutrition cannot only have a single substance at work, but a composite type, and each structure has its use. "So one nutrient or one flavonoid is not enough, and even if it is useful, it may take a long time."
In the view of these experts, the most critical thing is that the research results are based on the results of animal experiments and have not yet entered the clinical trial stage. Zhang Zhaofeng stressed that from the article, as a single PCC1, it has only completed animal experiments at present, and there is still a particularly long time before it really becomes a product into the clinical stage and then used in the human body, "There are hundreds of thousands of articles published in journals every day, but there are very few clinical applications." ”
According to his observations for many years, there are many substances that really play anti-aging and anti-tumor effects in the current experiments, such as quercetin, curcumin, sulforaphane and so on. Sulforaphane is extracted from broccoli, and in more than 20 years of anti-tumor experiments, it has been proven to be effective, can be regarded as the strongest antioxidant at present, and many scientists have been studying it for many years, "but in the end it has not really been applied to people, because there are too many restrictions." ”
Professor Ding also said that in daily studies, the effect of drugs in vitro and in vivo is not consistent. "Knowing that a substance is effective and finally really applying it to people actually has to go through many, many levels, and the success rate may be only one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand." In addition, Professor Ding also pointed out that what is reflected in mice is not necessarily reflected in humans, "human diseases are much more complex than mice." "At the same time, the transition from laboratory research to clinical research is much more complex.
↑ Infographic. The relevant research results are based on the results found in animal experiments and have not yet entered the clinical trial stage.
For the statement that "the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found an anti-aging artifact", Zhang Zhaofeng stressed that the article issued by the Chinese Academy of Sciences only said that "the drug is a potential new anti-aging drug, which can be used for the body's life extension and anti-aging treatment", and did not point out that it has been effective for the human body. After commercial packaging, it has become an 'anti-aging artifact', and netizens need to be cautious. ”
Red Star News noted that in mid-December, the research team also said in an interview that "at present, PCC1 is only successful in animal experiments, and there are still some levels to pass, and it will take a long time before it lands." Subsequently, One of the investors in the project, By-Health, also publicly responded, "The research results are based on the results found in animal experiments, and the research and development of related oral products needs to be verified through clinical trials." ”
Experts: Anti-aging is mostly a false proposition, focusing on health and nutrition
According to experts, there are currently three major "just needs" in the health industry, which are also three major areas of rapid development of health commercialization: the first just need is "beauty", including external beauty, such as plastic surgery, weight loss and anti-aging, as well as inner beauty, such as "emotional nutrition", that is, to alleviate anxiety and depression caused by stress; the second is "pain": acute pain such as gout, which is also a pain point that people urgently need to solve; the third is "sex": happiness and sexual desire, such as many infertile families in urgent need of drugs.
In many "just needs", the concept of targeting the removal of senescent cells has continued to appear in the public eye in recent years, from the popular combination "dasatinib + quercetin", to the so-called "immortal drug" NMN, and now PCC1. In January this year, the Food Business Department of the State Administration of Market Regulation issued a letter clarifying that NMN cannot be produced and operated as food in China, requiring a comprehensive inspection of relevant operators.
↑ Infographic. "Immortal medicine" evades supervision with "overseas brands" and is still selling well after strict investigation. Image according to Oriental IC
"There was telomerase in a few years ago, metformin and now PCC1, and there will definitely be something else after a while." Behind the endless anti-aging drugs, there are often mixed reviews.
In Zhang Zhaofeng's view, "anti-aging is largely a pseudo-proposition", and the biggest problem currently facing modern people is not anti-aging, but health and nutrition. As social pressures increase and malnutrition rates rise, they will accelerate people's aging. But unfortunately, health itself may not become a "just need", "modern people are difficult to have the patience to adjust their health, but only to pursue some of the current satisfaction." ”
According to its introduction, according to the current theory, people can probably live to 125 years old, because the 50 generations of human body cell renewal iteration is about 125 years old. Recent data show that the actual life expectancy of people is about 78 years old, which is far from the theoretical life expectancy. In addition to genetic causes, another is environmental reasons, which may cause various functional abnormalities in physical health and premature aging.
So, is there a better way to slow down aging? Zhang Zhaofeng told Red Star News that he has focused on elderly nutrition in recent years, and from years of research, he found that scientific diet and energy restriction are currently more recognized ways to delay aging in the industry.
"The most basic thing is a scientific diet. At present, several dietary methods that are recognized as effective are the Mediterranean diet and the anti-inflammatory diet. Zhang Zhaofeng said, "Many of us now do not even eat the most basic diet." According to its introduction, an article published by The Lancet in 2019 surveyed the burden of disease in 195 countries between 1990 and 2017, mainly investigating the impact of dietary factors on disease, which found that Chinese mortality due to improper diets ranked first in the world.
In the cases that Zhang Zhaofeng came into contact with, he found that although modern people eat and drink, they cause a lot of trace elements and dietary fiber deficiencies, resulting in invisible hunger and "three highs" and tumors. "Even good health can not be guaranteed, let alone anti-aging? If you really want to fight aging, there are too many substances in daily life, daily vegetables, good fats and nucleotides can be. ”
"The second is energy limitation. Modern people eat too much, and the total amount of food that people consume in their lifetime is roughly fixed, about seventy tons or so. The old ancestors have long told us that to eat seven points of fullness, three points of sugar, sunrise and sunset and rest, etc., but few people can do it. Zhang Zhaofeng introduced that people eat less and are hungry, and they can also achieve the purpose of delaying aging to a certain extent.
Red Star News Pan Junwen Intern reporter Cai Xiaoyi
Edited by Zhang Xun
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