So-called ‘immune-targeting’ therapies could hold the key (Image: Getty)
Scientists are close to developing an anti-ageing jab to stave off cognitive decline.
A treatment that could help the brain fire well despite advancing years has been the Holy Grail of medicine for decades and previously thought to be out of reach.
But a so-called “immune-targeting” drug which works by helping to stimulate or suppress the immune system could be the key to unlocking the conundrum.
Medics have long asked whether it is “fantasy” to think the immune system can be scrambled to combat mental decline.
But a group of Israeli researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science are hopeful it could be the answer.
They said: “It is exciting to envision an immune-targeting approach to reduce the threat from our internal enemies that cause our decline with ageing. We believe that we are closer than ever to making these possibilities a reality.”
Scientists say research is closer than ever to staving off mental decline (Image: Getty)
As people age there can be an imbalance in the number of immune cells produced which can lead to an increase in inflammation and a rise in the number of senescent or “zombie” cells that linger after they should have died and been cleared away.
Experts at the institute said researchers are seeking to identify a “physiological protective brain epitope” – the part of a protein that triggers an immune reaction that could “serve as an anti-ageing vaccination”. They also said that senolytics – drugs that clear senescent cells – also “hold great promise” for the brain.
It has given fresh hope that some of the greatest challenges facing humanity could soon be aided thanks to advances in medical research.
In Britain, around one million people now live with dementia in Britain, some 600,000 with Alzheimer’s.
One in three born today will go on to develop dementia, which remains incurable. By 2050 estimates suggest some 2 million will be struck down.
Donanemab is the latest generation of immunotherapy drugs, already widely used to treat diseases like cancer, that has sparked hope the condition can be effectively treated for the first time. It works by teaching immune cells to recognise and remove a toxic protein called amyloid, which is a hallmark of the disease.
Last year the drug, also known as Kisunla, was licensed as a treatment for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease in the UK.
In a special edition of the medical journal Neuron focusing on ageing research also highlighted that “caloric restriction” may slow the ageing process as it can “counteract the reductions in cerebral blood flow” to the brain’s cortex, which accelerate as we age. The paper, from researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, also said exercise can reduce the loss of pericytes – cells that keep our blood vessels healthy.
It gives credence to the long-held view that age-related decline can be kept at bay – although not beaten – by diet and exercise.
Another powerful brain boost aid is through uninterrupted sleep with researchers at Washington University in St Louis noting: “Sleep disruptions that increase with age can have profound effects on the brain’s waste-clearance capabilities.”