Scientists discover new anti-ageing compound

Fountain of youth! In a breakthrough, scientists have developed a new compound that could reverse the ageing process in humans.
Australian and US scientists plan human trials of the compound as early as next year, following a key breakthrough that saw the ageing process reversed in mice.
The study possibly paves the way for new treatments for age-related diseases including cancer, type 2 diabetes, muscle wasting and inflammatory diseases, researchers said.
The work, led by David Sinclair from University of New South Wales, found a series of molecular events enable communication inside cells between the mitochondria and the nucleus. As communication breaks down, ageing accelerates.

The background to the research is that as we age, levels of the chemical NAD, which starts this communication cascade, decline, researchers said.
Until now, the only way to slow this decline was to restrict calories and exercise intensively.

Researchers used a compound that cells transform into NAD to repair the broken network and rapidly restore communication and mitochondrial function. It mimics the effects of diet and exercise.
"It was shocking how quickly it happened," said co-author Dr Nigel Turner.
"If the compound is administered early enough in the ageing process, in just a week, the muscles of the older mice were indistinguishable from the younger animals, Turner said.

The two-year-old mice also performed well on insulin resistance and inflammation - both of which are correlated with ageing. They were compared with six-month-old animals.
"It was a very pronounced effect. It's something like a 60-year-old being similar to a 20-year-old on some measures," said Turner.
The younger mice given the same compound were "supercharged above normal level" on certain measures, said Turner.
"So it is possible this would have benefits in healthy, young humans," he said.
One particularly important aspect of this research involves HIF-1, which is an intrusive molecule that foils communication, but also has a role in cancer.

It has been known for some time that HIF-1 is switched on in many cancers, now this research has found it also switches on during ageing.
"We become cancer-like in our ageing process. Nobody has linked cancer and ageing like this before," said Sinclair, adding this may explain why the greatest risk of cancer is age.
The researchers are now looking at the longer-term outcomes the NAD-producing compound has on mice. They are exploring whether it can be used to safely treat rare mitochondrial diseases and other conditions, such as type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well as for longevity and good health.

The findings are published in the journal Cell.