In recent years, major breakthroughs have been made in the development of aging research, which may subvert our perception of aging and are more likely to develop therapies against aging-related diseases in the future.
As early as the 19th century, an idea was raised that injecting a young individual's plasma into the elderly may be able to fight aging, a surgical stapling procedure that connects young with old mice and establishes them among individual mice A blood circulation system that enables both blood to be shared is called parabiosis.
Thomas Rando, a professor of neurology at Stanford University in the United States, published his research in 2007 and found that multiple organs in older mice had shown signs of recovery when they shared the blood circulation system with old mice and young mice The technology has been reexamined and confirmed that it really improves the functioning of the liver, brain and muscle tissue in older mice, prompting scientists to start looking for the main molecules that lead to these advances.
As animal experiments have shown that the brains of older mice, both functionally and outwardly, have become younger, scientists have further clinical trials in Alzheimer's patients to see if the same method can In the human body caused the same effect.
Unfortunately, however, the effect of administering young plasma to patients with Alzheimer's disease was not as pronounced as expected, and in this study, a group of older adults with Alzheimer's disease were injected weekly with 18-25 However, the results of observers on caregivers showed that their behavior in everyday life, such as The ability to prepare food or go out activities has improved, but at present there is no significant difference in the statistical results.
Some scientists also questioned the way in which experimental results were tested, in which one group of patients was given saline placebo and the other group was injected with young plasma, and after a few weeks the two groups were swapped, But the plan was shut down with the exit of several participants.
Instead, the plan was to administer young plasma to all remaining participants for a four-week period and to compare their results with the placebo group in the first study, but with fewer patients in the placebo group, care was taken Those who record the results are more inclined to observe improved conditions, some scientists think such data can not be conclusive.
Still, Alkahest, a U.S. medical company, still believes the study is very forward-looking and is still in its infancy, and Alkahest, which is funding the study, will conduct further trials to determine if treatment is viable.
Subsequent clinical trials will use only growth factor-containing plasma, which has been shown to be more effective in animal experiments and will test more Alzheimer's patients, including those with more severe symptoms, under different dosage conditions carry out testing.
Although the current clinical trial results are not as expected, it does not mean that the method of treating aging diseases with young plasma has failed, and scientists in the field still hold high expectations for the therapy.