A drug to slow ageing?
Last updated: Monday, February 12, 2007 PrintA team at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia found that this niacin component, nicotinamide, is able to bind to a specific site on enzymes called sirtuins and inhibit their activity.
When activated, sirtuins can significantly extend the lives of many kinds of organisms, such as yeast, worms and flies. Sirtuins may also be able to control ageing-related metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.
May spur anti-ageing enzymesDrugs that block nicotinamide from binding to this specific site on sirtuins might activate the enzymes and boost health, the researchers say.
The study is published in the February 9 issue of Molecular Cell.
"Our findings suggest a new avenue for designing sirtuin-activating drugs," senior author Ronen Marmorstein, a professor in the gene expression and regulation programme at Wistar, said in a prepared statement.
"The jury is still out as to whether a drug of this kind might result in longer life in humans, but I'm equally excited by the possibility that such interventions might help counteract age-related health problems like obesity and type 2 diabetes," Marmorstein said. – (HealthDayNews)
Read more:Anti-ageing Centre
Novel anti-ageing substance found
February 2007
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