Researchers from Israel have announced the discovery of a treatment that could potentially reverse the aging process.
The research team, working from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and led by Prof. Doron Melamed of the Technion's Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, developed a process that reverses the aging process by taking a kind of white blood cell called B lymphocytes out of the immune system of mice. This forces the body to replace the old cells with new, young cells, thus creating a younger immune system.
The B lymphocytes have long been known to have an effect on ageing and specifically on the function of the immune system and control the protection of antibodies. However, the number of B lymphocytes in the body declines with age; this explains why people succumb more to illness as they get older.
The new research found that the process of removing the B lymphocyte cells from the body had an effect of changing the body’s cellular homeostasis as well as creating a condition of chronic deficiency in these cells.
This then triggers a response in the body to reactivate the bone marrow, which then produces new B lymphocyte cells at a rate similar to that of young mice. In lab conditions, this showed improvements of up to 400% in the immune responses of treated mice.
According to Melamed, the research has successfully proven that it is possible to reverse the ageing process and opens up vast avenues for future research into potential applications in humans.
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http://www.israel21c.org/201104189006/briefs/scientists-find-key-to-reversing-the-aging-process