Enzymes Found to Delay Aging Process
It is too soon to say whether the latest findings will ever make the leap from the lab bench to the geriatrics clinic — though some may choose not to wait: Of all the compounds the researchers tested, the one that boosted the anti-aging enzyme the most was resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine that has been credited with that beverage’s ability to lower the risk of heart disease.
But the findings strengthen an increasingly popular notion among many scientists that the cellular enzymes at the core of the experiments — called sirtuins — are universal regulators of aging in virtually all living organisms and represent a prime target for new anti-aging drugs.
“It’s looking like these sirtuins serve as guardians of the cell,” said Harvard Medical School researcher David Sinclair, who led the new work published in yesterday’s online edition of the journal Nature. “These enzymes allow cells to survive damage and delay cell death.”
Looks like I’m going to be drinking more red wine!