“Vacuum cleaner” for old cells: the Russian Academy of Sciences spoke about modern approaches to the prevention of aging

Olga Tkacheva, chief freelance geriatrician of the Russian Ministry of Health, director of the Russian Gerontological Research and Clinical Center of the Russian National Research Medical University named after N. I. Pirogov, began with statistics. Today the elderly population in our country is 23%. Since society is aging, by 2030 there will already be 25% of them, that is, every fourth citizen of Russia will be an elderly citizen. Naturally, all those who have already reached this age, as well as those who have yet to join their ranks, would like to feel younger than their passport years for as long as possible.

The new paradigm of scientists, which Tkacheva spoke about, is aimed at delaying the period of onset in humans of six main groups of age-associated diseases: diseases of the cardiovascular system, cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and chronic obstructive lung diseases.

Today, 14 mechanisms leading to aging of the body are described, the main of which are: shortening of telomeres (the ends of chromosomes), oxidative (or oxidative) stress – a condition in which the body has too many free radicals – molecules without one electron, epigenetic mechanisms (inherited changes gene activity) and others. According to the chief freelance geriatrician, scientists pay special attention to one of the recently discovered mechanisms of aging – the influence of the extracellular matrix on the aging process of cells.

Help “MK”. The extracellular matrix is ​​the substance in which all the cells of our body are immersed. Cells receive nutrition from it, but cells that have spent their lives, “cellular debris,” also accumulate there, which can lead to premature aging and death of healthy cells.

According to Olga Tkacheva, her institute is searching for effective geroprotective agents. In particular, in one of the laboratories a substance was synthesized – a derivative of the plant alkaloid berberine, which has a synolytic effect. “It helps the body cope with old cells, like a vacuum cleaner that releases tissue from them,” says the director of the Center.

There is another promising area of ​​activity for scientists – the management of aging processes, the search for risk factors for chronic non-infectious diseases, biomarkers by which biological age can be determined.

“To understand whether we can influence aging, we need to learn how to measure it,” explains Tkacheva. “To do this, we are developing a biological age calculator based on an assessment of the state of the cardiovascular system, intestines, and retinal assessment.” The study is conducted with the participation of healthy people of different ages. In addition, scientists have created a biobank, which has already collected 5 thousand tissue samples from 100 and 90-year-old centenarians.

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According to the Chairman of the Council of Life Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Chekhonin, up to 70 percent of dementia in old age is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The ability of patients to live independently without additional help with high quality depends on how effectively scientists learn to prevent its development and treat it.

Director of the Brain Institute and Deputy Director for Research of the Scientific Center for Neurology Sergei Illarioshkin said that the increasing age of the population certainly affects the growth of age-related diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, which affect more than 40 million people in the world, and According to forecasts, by 2050 this figure could increase at least three times – up to 120 million.

“In Japan, where the average life expectancy has already reached 85 years, 15% of older people suffer from dementia <...> Around the world, every 30 seconds someone gets Alzheimer’s disease!” – Illarioshkin cites disappointing statistics. It is Alzheimer’s disease, according to him, that now “leads” in the world among all other neurodegenerative diseases.

Help from MK Alzheimer’s disease is a slowly progressive disease of the nervous system, manifested by intellectual impairment (dementia). The essence of the disease is that in the nerve cells of the aging brain, first beta-amyloid proteins accumulate, then cells of its type – tau protein. These components accumulate in the brain in the form of deposits called plaques, which are the hallmark of the disease.

The accumulation of beta-amyloid, according to the scientist, begins long before the first symptoms appear. “The first symptoms of dementia appear, as a rule, only after 50% of the neurons in the brain have already died,” says Sergei Illarioshkin. – It’s too late to start therapy. Therefore, it is important to see the markers of the disease as early as possible and to create the necessary technologies for earlier intervention in order to delay the onset of a serious stage of the disease.” Today, he says, Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed using positron emission tomography (PET). It allows you to see the accumulation of beta-amyloid. In addition to PET, another method is to analyze cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for levels of amyloid-beta proteins.

“Why is this important now? – continues the academician. – Because drugs appear to flush out pathological beta-amyloid from the brain matter. <...> They reduce the rate of progression of Alzheimer’s disease by 30% if treatment is started early enough.”

Sergei Nikolaevich also named those diseases that can accelerate the development of Alzheimer’s disease. He included covid, herpes virus, herpes zoster virus, and chlamydia pneumoniae among them. He also recalled other agents that accelerate the pathological process. These include pesticides, as well as, as has recently been established, inhalation of fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke, a sedentary lifestyle, low levels of education, low cognitive load, and insufficient sleep.

“The brain’s lymphatic system, which removes pathological amyloid beta from the brain, is especially active during nighttime sleep,” Illarioshkin said.

Vladimir Chekhonin inquired about the prospects of using the method of transcranial brain stimulation, which is being studied at the Neurology Center, against Alzheimer’s disease. According to the academician, this method produces neuromodulation, a non-invasive reconfiguration of brain functions. It has already been proven to affect memory functions and some other cognitive functions. The only question is how persistent this effect will be?

“There are other modes of memory modulation, for example ultrasound, certain methods of transcranial electrical stimulation,” says the scientist. “It’s gratifying that such work is being carried out in our country, and we are not lagging behind our foreign colleagues in this direction.”

Help “MK” Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease usually appear after 65 years. But there is also an early form of this disease. This form is hereditary, associated with mutations of three genes, it accounts for 8-10% of the total number of cases.

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Speaking after, the General Director of the National Medical Research Center of Cardiology. Academician E.I. Chazov Sergei Boytsov reminded of the importance of early detection of cardiovascular diseases: “At least once a year, you need to visit a cardiologist.” He also emphasized the need for physical exercise: “The important thing here is not to burn calories, but to make microcirculation work. Capillaries work, all tissues and cells work, we revive dormant tissues.”

It is believed that human health depends only 10% on healthcare, 20% on genetics, 20% on the environment, and 50% on lifestyle. Peers who have the same passport age may have different biological ages. This, as well as the fact that it is important to monitor hormones, pay attention (especially to men) to the reproductive system and load the brain more with intellectual work, was also recalled by the director of the National Medical Research Center of Endocrinology Natalya Mokrysheva, director of the Research Institute of Urology and Interventional Radiology named after N.A. Lopatkina Oleg Apolikhin and head of the department of geriatric psychiatry of the Scientific Center for Mental Health Igor Kolykhalov.