The mystery of longevity! Studies have found two blood proteins, or longevity secrets

Health and longevity are the common pursuit of almost everyone, even the most powerful emperors in history are not exempt. Recently, in a study, scientists demonstrated through experiments that there are two blood proteins in the human body that affect human health, and the development of drugs against these proteins has a high probability of slowing down human aging.

With the increasing age, the functions of human organs will also decline, which will lead to the emergence of diseases and poor health. Not only that, but related factors including genetics, lifestyle, environment, etc. also have a certain impact on the rate of aging in humans, researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the study not only analyzed which proteins affect the human aging process, but also revealed how these proteins play a role in the human aging process.

Ultimately, of the 857 proteins studied, the researchers identified two proteins that have significant negative effects on the aging process in humans, and the results of the study were identified as "Mendelian randomization ofgenetically independent aging phenotypes identifies LPA and VCAM1 as biologicaltargets for human." aging" was published in Nature Aging.

Research Results (Source: Nature Aging)

In the study, researchers at the University of Edinburgh combined the results of six large genetic studies with human aging, using a set of blood protein quantitative trait loci of a fully validated set of 857 proteins as a genetic tool to infer a causal relationship between protein levels and human aging through a full-proteome two-sample Mendelian randomization and colocation method.

After analysis, the researchers found that the levels of four proteins LPA, VCAM1, OLFM1 and LRP12 may have some effect on human aging. Ultimately, they found that among these proteins, apolipoprotein A (LPA) and vascular cell adhesion factor 1 (VCAM1) had the most significant effects on aging. Overall, every unit increase in the standard deviation of LPA levels in blood means that the person may lose 7 months of life; for every unit of standard deviation of VCAM1 levels in blood, it means that a person's life may be extended by 18 months.

Table 1. Four proteins that affect aging

Table source: Nature Aging

Apolipoprotein A (LPA) is produced in the liver and plays a corresponding role in blood clotting. But high levels of LPA will increase the risk of atherosclerosis, which in turn can lead to diseases such as heart disease and stroke.

Another protein, vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1), is found mainly on the surface of endothelial cells, a protein that controls the expansion and contraction of blood vessels and can play a role in coagulation and immune responses. The expression level of this protein increases with age, and high levels of VCAM1 may lead to the appearance of vascular inflammation. Although there are currently no clinical trials involving VCAM1, mouse trials have demonstrated that anti-VCAM1 antibody therapy or VCAM1 inducible deletion can significantly improve cognitive ability in older mice.

And interestingly, there is still a relationship between these two proteins, and an increase in LAP levels will increase the expression level of VCAM1.

The researchers said that because there is no genome-wide association pooled data, it is not possible to accurately assess the effects of the other two proteins, LRP12 and OLFM1, on human aging. LRP12 may play a role in human brain development as well as tumor proliferation or inhibition, and OLFM1 has been shown to inhibit the metastasis of colorectal cancer, but it is unclear whether lowering levels of these two proteins will have beneficial effects in humans.

Combining the above, the researchers said that drugs that treat disease by lowering LPA and VCAM1 levels may have additional effects that improve quality of life and prolong life.

Dr Paul Timmers, lead researcher in the HUMAN Genetics Unit at the University of Edinburgh's MRC, said: "The identification of these two key proteins helps to prolong the lifespan of a healthy human body, and drugs that lower the levels of these proteins in the human blood can make humans healthy and long-lived. ”

Written by | Muzijiu

Typography | Muzijiu

End

Resources:

This article is a biological exploration original, welcome to forward and share. If any other media or website needs to be reprinted, the source of biological exploration must be indicated in front of the main text.