New Scientist reports on a Nature Metabolism study that found a chemical found in grape seeds helped bodies weed out weaker “senescent” cells, leading to better overall health and longer lifespans overall:
To find a substance that might destroy these cells, Qixia Xu at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai and colleagues screened a library of chemicals linked to ageing for their effects against senescent cells. The team’s search turned up a chemical found in grape seeds called procyanidin C1 (PCC1).
At low concentrations, PCC1 appeared to prevent senescent cells in a dish from producing inflammatory substances. At high concentrations, the chemical killed the cells, while leaving younger cells intact.
To test its effectiveness in living animals, the team injected 171 mice that were 2 years old – equivalent to around 70 in human years – with either PCC1 or a control solution twice a week for the rest of the animals’ lives. On average, PCC1 increased the lifespan of mice by 9 per cent.
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Mice that received the treatment had a significantly faster maximum walking speed, stronger grip strength and better endurance when running on a treadmill, compared with mice that had been given the control solution.
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The fact that the chemical didn’t seem to affect healthy cells suggests it could be “a promising anti-ageing therapeutic treatment”, says Dorian Ziegler at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.
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You can read more of Xu’s research here, at Nature Metabolism.