Aging is an inevitable process, but new scientific discoveries hope that its consequences can be significantly weakened. The study, published in the authoritative scientific journal Nature , revealed an important link between chronic inflammation, age -related changes in the brain and one particular hormone - prostaglandin E2.
This hormone has been known to science for a long time: it regulates inflammatory processes in the body. But now it turned out that with age the level of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is increasing significantly, and this can have catastrophic consequences for brain health. Particularly detrimental was the EP2 receptor, which is activated under the action of PGE2.
It is the EP2 receptor that starts the mechanism of chronic depletion of immune cells - macrophages. Instead of consuming energy to protect the body, cells accumulate it, losing efficiency. As a result, chronic inflammation, metabolic disorders, deterioration of cognitive functions and the development of age -related diseases, including dementia.
Experiments on mice gave unexpectedly encouraging results. When the researchers blocked the action of the EP2 receptor in summer rodents, their brain showed a noticeable "rejuvenation" - mice were better oriented in space, better memorized information and generally behaved more actively than the control group.
This discovery is of great importance: if you can safely block or modulate the action of the EP2 receptor in humans, it may be possible to slow down or even partially tighten some effects of brain aging.
Scientists are already developing drugs that selectively inhibit the action of EP2, and prepare for the first clinical trials in humans. This can open a new era in the fight not only with aging, but also with inflammation -related diseases - from Alzheimer's disease to autoimmune disorders.
Although the emergence of effective drugs is far away, this study proves: aging is not a sentence. Perhaps the future of healthy old age is closer than we thought.
