The Elixir of Youth Invented

Scientists have discovered a drug combination that allows the process of aging in the human body to be reversed. All volunteers who participated in the trial showed a decrease in biological age by two and a half years. Although the method requires further study and testing, its results already look promising.

At the start of his experiment, immunologist Gregory Fahey and his team did not intend to invent an elixir of youth. The goal of the scientists was to study the safety of using injections of somatotropin (growth hormone) for regenerating thymus tissue in humans. The thymus, also known as the thymus gland, is a tiny organ located in the upper part of the chest at the base of the lungs. It is called the central "player" of the entire immune system, as it is in the tissues of the thymus that T-lymphocytes mature and specialize, helping our body fight various dangers, including infections and oncology.

The thymus reaches its maximum size in children, but with the onset of puberty, it gradually atrophies – its tissues are replaced by fat. By the age of twenty, the thymus is already half composed of fat, and by seventy, its size decreases sixfold. It is the only aging organ of the immune system. As soon as the activity of the gland decreases, the number of lymphocytes decreases – as a result, the body's defenses are depleted. This is related to the age-related decline in immunity.

The growth hormone can slow down the aging of the thymus and even restore its atrophied tissues, as scientists previously established in experiments on animals. Such information emerged back in 1987: at that time, the possibility of restarting thymus functions using somatotropin was tested on mice. The rodents were implanted with cells that produce this hormone, which allowed their immunity to be "rejuvenated".

Ten years later, Gregory Fahey, who was around fifty at the time, decided to test this effect on himself. For a month, he injected himself with growth hormone while also taking the most well-known anti-diabetic drug. The latter was necessary because artificial elevation of somatotropin levels can lead to the development of diabetes. At the end of the experiment, the scientist underwent necessary examinations, which showed restoration of thymus tissues.

Inspired by the result, he gathered a team with which he recently conducted a new study. Ten men aged 52 to 66 voluntarily participated in it. All of them received a drug combination that included growth hormone, the anti-diabetic drug metformin, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), zinc, and vitamin D.

DHEA, a multifunctional steroid hormone, is necessary in this cocktail to prevent the development of inflammation that may arise due to increased concentrations of immune cells. And metformin, in addition to its diabetic action, as indicated by data from some studies, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and oncology in diabetics, slowing down cell aging. This effect, however, has only been tested on cell cultures.

The experiment lasted two years, during which the subjects regularly provided blood samples for analysis and underwent magnetic resonance imaging, which tracked changes in thymus tissues. At its conclusion, researchers found that absolutely all volunteers' immune systems had "rejuvenated" – their blood showed an increase in the number of T-lymphocytes, for which the thymus is responsible. In eight out of ten men, its tissues regenerated, displacing the fat cells that had previously replaced them.

After that, the project leader decided to consult Steven Horvath, the author of the well-known version of epigenetic clocks, which are recognized as one of the most accurate ways to measure a person's biological age. This is a set of specific chemical markers on DNA, the number of which increases with the aging of the body. The more of these markers there are and the denser their structure, the older the cell, and thus its owner. Biological age reflects the functional state of the body and can be either greater or less than chronological age.

Professor Horvath tested all participants on several epigenetic indicators and found significant changes that occurred in their bodies since the beginning of the experiment. During the first year of taking the drug combination, the biological age of the volunteers decreased by one and a half years, and then by another year. The scientist also found that for seven participants, this effect persisted for six months after the experiment ended.

The results surprised even him: "I expected that the epigenetic clocks would slow down a bit, but I did not expect that their hands would start moving in the opposite direction; it felt like a science fiction movie. Absolutely all participants experienced physiological rejuvenation, which is encouraging."

Now scientists are preparing to test the action of the drug combination they developed in a larger-scale study. They intend not only to increase the sample size of participants but also to balance it according to age, gender, and ethnic background.