Recent studies performing blood plasma transfusions from young to old people provide hope for delaying the aging process and fighting Alzheimer’s disease.
In the 5th century BC the Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the ‘Fountain of Youth’ and gave hope to countless explorers to find a way to cure death. A new version of this search restarted only a few years ago. The potentially delay of ageing has replaced the mythical eternal life.
In November 2017 researchers of the start-up company Alkahest in California published a study that transfused blood plasma of people aged 18 to 30 into the veins of elderly people that showed first signs of Alzheimer’s disease. The cognitive abilities of plasma recipients did not improve, their capability to cope with everyday life however did. The study had a control group that received a placebo but included only 18 participants. Previously the same team of researchers injected old mice with the plasma of young people several times. They found that the young plasma activated a range of genes in the old mice and improved their cognitive abilities and overall health.
The basis of experiments like these is a procedure called parabiosis. The first parabiosis was conducted in 1864 and joined the bodies and thus the blood circulation of two rats. These experiments became popular in the 1950ies and were used to study a range of medical conditions like diabetes. In the 70ies the interest in parabiosis faded. The invasive procedure seemed to have revealed all answers possible. Only recently researchers started to resume these experiments, this time for the matter of studying aging and how to prevent it: The scientists joined pairs of a young and an old mouse each. Something in the blood stream of the young rejuvenated the old mouse: By reactivating aged stem cells it restored muscle and liver cells and even enhanced the growth of neurons in the brain. Interestingly, as much as the elderly mice benefited from the influx of young blood, the young mice showed sign of enhanced ageing and deteriorating health.
But which components in the blood caused these boosts of youth? The researchers found a range of suspects, all proteins in the blood plasma, that decrease with age. One of these suspected but still controversial candidates is GDF 11 a protein that improves muscle repair. The process is complex and the researchers suspect many more blood factors to be involved. The researchers are aware that long-term blood transfusions in humans aren’t the solution though. In opposition to genetically modified lab mice, the human body would start rejecting the foreign plasma at some point as this would happen with any organ transplant. Once the scientists have identified the rejuvenating factors in the blood plasma they could produce these proteins in the lab and thus create targeted therapies for a range of medical conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.
For those who do not want to wait until the scientists of Alkahest have figured out the functions of rejuvenating plasma proteins, can sign up for a study and try the potential benefits of young blood themselves. Another US-based company called Ambrosia, meaning ‘food of the gods’, welcomes new study participants who provide their own funding. The transfusion of young plasma takes two hours and costs 8,000 USD. Elderly study participants have reported significant improvement of their health. However, scientists highly doubt Ambrosia’s study results as the company did not use a control group. Ambrosia hasn’t found volunteers yet that would pay 8,000 USD for a placebo.
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