SWISS BIOLOGISTS FIND substances that inhibit AGING

Scientists at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne found that a compound urolitin A slows down aging. This material is produced in our body when we drink pomegranate juice, eat strawberries or walnuts.






One of the consequences of aging - sarcopenia, muscle degeneration, which eventually leads to a decrease in muscle mass. We grow old - muscles work less, it becomes difficult to move

. Scientists have conducted studies on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and mice, and found that urolitin A increases the length of the nematode life by an average of 45%, and the mouse become stronger and tougher: after injecting the substance, they fled to the wheel by an average of 42% longer
.
Studies have shown that, even though the mouse and become stronger muscle mass they have not increased. As it turned out, urolitin did not cause the growth of new muscle and contribute to the renewal of muscle cells: the old mitochondria, organelles that produce energy, were replaced with new ones. This mouse muscles work better. The same effect is produced urolitin A and worms muscles.

According to scientists, the effect of which is found in the worms and mice, may well occur in humans. As the team leader Johan Auerks, urolitin A - the only currently known substance, which improves the muscles work without muscle growth

. Nematodes are often model object for study. Recently, scientists have found these worms genes that are associated with aging and depression in humans.