This Antioxidant May Help Clear Zombie Cells & Improve Blood Vessel Health

 But doesn't your competent? doctor already have you on watermelon juice for artery health?

 You can tell the competence of your doctor and hospital if they implemented watermelon in their hospitals from way back in November 2011.

Watermelon juice reverses hardening of the arteries  Nov. 2011 

Do you prefer your doctor, hospital and board of director's incompetence NOT KNOWING? OR NOT DOING? Your choice; let them be incompetent or demand action!

This Antioxidant May Help Clear Zombie Cells & Improve Blood Vessel Health

As we age, our blood vessels get stiffer and don't relax as easily. This makes it harder for blood to flow smoothly, and it's one of the main reasons cardiovascular disease and accelerated aging go hand in hand. But a compound found in strawberries might help. New research1 suggests fisetin, a plant compound that's been making waves in longevity circles, could help reverse some of this damage by clearing out worn-out cells.

How fisetin targets zombie cells

Fisetin is a dietary flavonoid that has antioxidant properties, and it's known to be a potent senolytic compound. What does this mean? Fisetin may help clear senescent cells in the body.

Senescent cells are damaged cells that stopped doing their job but refuse to die, which is why scientists call them "zombie cells." Instead of clearing out, they stick around and release inflammatory signals that harm healthy cells nearby.

So to study fisetn's senolytic effects, researchers gave 27-month-old mice (very roughly equivalent to humans in their 70s) fisetin supplements on and off over several weeks. They found that aging blood vessel cells were releasing high levels of CXCL12, one of the inflammatory signals zombie cells produce. Could fisetin clear these cells and restore healthy blood vessel function?

What the researchers found

After fisetin treatment, the older mice had fewer zombie cells and lower levels of CXCL12. Their blood vessels also started working properly again, relaxing and expanding the way healthy vessels should.

To test this further, the team took blood from old mice and exposed young blood vessel cells to it. The young cells started acting old; they got sluggish and showed signs of stress. CXCL12 played a role in this. But when fisetin was added, it protected the young cells from these effects.

This suggests fisetin works in two ways: clearing out zombie cells and lowering the harmful signals they release.

What this means for you

Research on fisetin is still mainly in the preclinical phase (aka in cells and animals), so we don't know yet if it works the same way in people. But it adds to growing evidence that fisetin could be a promising longevity compound for heart and blood vessel health.

If you want to get more fisetin through food, here are some top sources:

• Strawberries: The richest source; add a handful to your morning smoothie or enjoy as a snack
• Apples: Slice them up for an easy afternoon pick-me-up
• Onions and cucumbers: Toss them into salads for a simple boost
• Persimmons: A sweet option when they're in season

Fisetin supplements are also available and popular among longevity enthusiasts, though human studies on dosing are still limited. For now, focusing on whole foods is a simple, low-risk way to get more of this compound. Plus, you'll benefit from the fiber, vitamins, and other plant compounds that come along with it.

The takeaway

This study shows fisetin can reverse age-related blood vessel problems in mice by clearing out zombie cells and calming inflammation. Human trials are still needed, but adding fisetin-rich foods like strawberries, apples, and onions to your plate is an easy place to start.

New molecule reverses Alzheimer's-like memory decline

Is your doctor and stroke hospital looking at this and IMMEDIATELY realizing this might be a solution to your 5 lost cognitive years from your stroke. 

Or is your doctor and stroke hospital doing nothing with this? Do you prefer your incompetence NOT KNOWING? OR NOT DOING?

Their reasons for doing nothing?

Laziness? Incompetence? Or just don't care? No leadership? No strategy? Not my job?

The latest here.

New molecule reverses Alzheimer's-like memory decline

MedicalXpress Breaking News-and-Events|August 5, 2020

A drug candidate developed by Salk researchers, and previously shown to slow aging in brain cells, successfully reversed memory loss in a mouse model of inherited Alzheimer's disease. The new research, published online in July 2020 in the journal Redox Biology, also revealed that the drug, CMS121, works by changing how brain cells metabolize fatty molecules known as lipids.

"This was a more rigorous test of how well this compound would work in a therapeutic setting than our previous studies on it," says Pamela Maher, a senior staff scientist in the lab of Salk Professor David Schubert and the senior author of the new paper. "Based on the success of this study, we're now beginning to pursue clinical trials."

Over the last few decades, Maher has studied how a chemical called fisetin, found in fruits and vegetables, can improve memory and even prevent Alzheimer's-like disease in mice. More recently, the team synthesized different variants of fisetin and found that one, called CMS121, was especially effective at, improving the animals' memory, and slowing the degeneration of brain cells.

In the new study, Maher and colleagues tested the effect of CMS121 on mice that develop the equivalent of Alzheimer's disease. Maher's team gave a subset of the mice daily doses of CMS121 beginning at 9 months old—the equivalent of middle age in people, and after the mice have already begun to show learning and memory problems. The timing of the lab's treatment is akin to how a patient who visits the doctor for cognitive problems might be treated, the researchers say.

After three months on CMS121, at 12 months old, the mice—both treated and untreated—were given a battery of memory and behavior tests. In both types of tests, mice with Alzheimer's-like disease that had received the drug performed equally well as healthy control animals, while untreated mice with the disease performed more poorly.

To better understand the impact of CMS121, the team compared the levels of different molecules within the brains of the three groups of mice. They discovered that when it came to levels of lipids—fatty molecules that play key roles in cells throughout the body—mice with the disease had several differences compared to both healthy mice and those treated with CMS121. In particular, the researchers pinpointed differences in something known as lipid peroxidation—the degradation of lipids that produces free radical molecules that can go on to cause cell damage. Mice with Alzheimer's-like disease had higher levels of lipid peroxidation than either healthy mice or those treated with CMS121.

"That not only confirmed that lipid peroxidation is altered in Alzheimer's, but that this drug is actually normalizing those changes," says Salk postdoctoral fellow Gamze Ates, first author of the new paper.

The researchers went on to show that CMS121 lowered levels of a lipid-producing molecule called fatty acid synthetase (FASN), which, in turn, lowered levels of lipid peroxidation. When the group analyzed levels of FASN in brain samples from human patients who had died of Alzheimer's, they found that the patients had higher amounts of the FASN protein than similarly aged controls who were cognitively healthy, which suggests FASN could be a drug target for treating Alzheimer's disease.

While the group is pursuing clinical trials, they hope other researchers will explore additional compounds that may treat Alzheimer's by targeting FASN and lipid peroxidation.

"There has been a big struggle in the field right now to find targets to go after," says Maher. "So, identifying a new target in an unbiased way like this is really exciting and opens lots of doors."

To read more, click here

This Fruit Reverses Brain Ageing

Followup needed to translate this to humans. Don't try to guess how many pounds of strawberries you need to eat daily. 

This Fruit Reverses Brain Ageing

“At 10 months, the differences between these two groups were striking.” – Dr Pamela Maher

A natural compound found in strawberries can reduce the mental effects of ageing.
The antioxidant fisetin, when given to mice, was found to reduce their mental decline with age and inflammation in their body.

→ Subscribe to PsyBlog for $4 per month: get an ad-free experience and more articles.

Fisetin is also found in many other plants, such as apples, onions, cucumbers and persimmons.
Dr Pamela Maher, who led the research said:

“Companies have put fisetin into various health products but there hasn’t been enough serious testing of the compound.
Based on our ongoing work, we think fisetin might be helpful as a preventative for many age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, not just Alzheimer’s, and we’d like to encourage more rigorous study of it.”

Previous studies in the same lab have found that fisetin can reduce age-related memory loss.
The study was carried out on mice that had been genetically modified to be susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Maher said:

“Mice are not people, of course.
But there are enough similarities that we think fisetin warrants a closer look, not only for potentially treating sporadic AD but also for reducing some of the cognitive effects associated with aging, generally.”

The mice were given food with fisetin in it for 7 months and compared to a control group.
Dr Maher said:

“At 10 months, the differences between these two groups were striking.”

Those given the fisetin had hardly suffered any age-related deficits.

Natural compound found in strawberries may help prevent age-related diseases - fisetin

Followup needed to translate this to humans. Don't try to guess how many pounds of strawberries you need to eat daily. 

Natural compound found in strawberries may help prevent age-related diseases - fisetin

• Download PDF Copy

July 11, 2017

Salk scientists have found further evidence that a natural compound in strawberries reduces cognitive deficits and inflammation associated with aging in mice. The work, which appeared in the Journals of Gerontology Series A in June 2017, builds on the team's previous research into the antioxidant fisetin, finding it could help treat age-related mental decline and conditions like Alzheimer's or stroke.
"Companies have put fisetin into various health products but there hasn't been enough serious testing of the compound," says Pamela Maher, a senior staff scientist in Salk's Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory and senior author of the paper. "Based on our ongoing work, we think fisetin might be helpful as a preventative for many age-associated neurodegenerative diseases, not just Alzheimer's, and we'd like to encourage more rigorous study of it."
Maher, who works in the lab of David Schubert, the head of Salk's Cellular Neurobiology Lab, has been studying fisetin for over a decade. Previous research by the lab found that fisetin reduced memory loss related to Alzheimer's in mice genetically modified to develop the disease. But that study focused on genetic (familial) AD, which accounts for only 1 to 3 percent of cases. By far the bigger risk factor for developing what is termed sporadic AD, as well as other neurodegenerative disorders, is simply age. For the current inquiry, Maher turned to a strain of laboratory mice that age prematurely to better study sporadic AD. By 10 months of age, these mice typically show signs of physical and cognitive decline not seen in normal mice until two years of age.
The Salk team fed the 3-month-old prematurely aging mice a daily dose of fisetin with their food for 7 months. Another group of the prematurely aging mice was fed the same food without fisetin. During the study period, mice took various activity and memory tests. The team also examined levels of specific proteins in the mice related to brain function, responses to stress and inflammation.

"At 10 months, the differences between these two groups were striking," says Maher. Mice not treated with fisetin had difficulties with all the cognitive tests as well as elevated markers of stress and inflammation. Brain cells called astrocytes and microglia, which are normally anti-inflammatory, were now driving rampant inflammation. Mice treated with fisetin, on the other hand, were not noticeably different in behavior, cognitive ability or inflammatory markers at 10 months than a group of untreated 3-month-old mice with the same condition. Additionally, the team found no evidence of acute toxicity in the fisetin-treated mice, even at high doses of the compound.
"Mice are not people, of course," says Maher, "But there are enough similarities that we think fisetin warrants a closer look, not only for potentially treating sporadic AD but also for reducing some of the cognitive effects associated with aging, generally."
Next, Maher hopes to partner with another group or company in order to conduct clinical trials of fisetin with human subjects.

Source:

https://www.salk.edu/news-release/evidence-shows-natural-plant-compound-may-reduce-mental-effects-aging/