As we age, changes in neuronal and cognitive function occur, affecting signals between the brain and other areas of the body, as well as understanding, learning, and memory. The decline in these abilities is related to many neurological disorders . American scientists seem to have found the solution.
Umbilical cord blood could be the key to restoring learning and memory capacity that declines with age, according to a team of researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California (USA). Thus, in an experiment with older mice, injections of human umbilical cord blood revitalized their brain function, so this is likely to occur in humans as well.
The study shows that human plasma can also improve memory and learning in older mice. Specifically, the team identified an umbilical cord plasma protein (TIMP2), which is abundant in human umbilical cord blood but declines with age , that was able to mimic the rejuvenating effect on brain function of older mice. without the need to inject the rest of the plasma. This single protein could prove useful from a drug development perspective.
The hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to the normal aging process, although the exact mechanisms behind its vulnerability are largely unknown.
“With advancing age, the hippocampus degenerates, loses nerve cells, and shrinks,” explains Tony Wyss-Coray. Hence the ability to remember and learn are so impaired.
The deterioration of the hippocampus is also related to an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers tested the effect of older (61-82 years) and young (19-24 years) human blood, as well as the ‘freshest’ human blood that exists: umbilical cord blood, on the hippocampal function of children. mice. The older mice received injections of plasma from older adults, young adults, and human umbilical cord every four days for 2 weeks.
The result was that human umbilical cord plasma significantly improved hippocampal function in rodents. In fact, the performance of mice in the umbilical cord group was stellar compared to mice of the same age that received a sham injection of saline. Plasma from older adults had no effect on measures of hippocampal function, and plasma from young adults slightly improved hippocampal function.
The tissue inhibitor protein of metalloproteinases type 2 (TIMP2) was responsible for enhancing the activity of nerve cells in the brain in a laboratory experiment.
The study has been published in the journal Nature.
