Best senolytics compounds
More and more scientists consider aging to be more or less a disease. Growing older has a direct biological effect: our body stores more and more damaged cells. The problem is that, as we get older, the immune system starts to fail and these damaged or senescent cells, those that lose their ability to divide, accumulate.
At the cellular level, aging is called senescence. However, this process goes beyond aging, placing senescent cells at the center of numerous cellular processes as disparate as the development of the organism or cancer.
As a consequence, inflammation levels increase (with the consequent risk of cancer) and the body secretes enzymes that are harmful to organ tissues. Decay, in short, accelerates. But it can be stopped. In other words, if we combat cell aging, we will also combat the diseases that result from it, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis or cardiovascular problems, which will come sooner or later.
There are already drugs that have been shown to prolong life. A senolytic is a drug that fights cellular aging, although by extension it is used to refer to any anti-aging compound. If you go to a pharmacy and ask for a senolytic, you will get a funny look on your face, because they are not sold, nor do they exist as such.
In reality, senolytics are drugs that have been invented for something else, but have proven to be very effective in slowing down the aging process. A senolytic agent is a compound with a wide variety of chemical structures, which can be obtained from natural products or by chemical synthesis, and is intended to provide senolytic therapy at three levels:
- Specific destruction of senescent cells.
- Inhibition or silencing of inflammatory factors.
- Enhancement of the immune system for the elimination of senescent cells.
It is noted, for example, the possibility of alleviating the senescent cell burden, even if treatment was initiated at an advanced age, with fisetin. This natural compound - specifically, a flavonoid - is present in such common fruits as strawberries, persimmons, apples or blueberries.
Fisetin is one of the most promising senolytic drugs and has already shown its efficacy in halting Alzheimer's disease.
Curcumin is a hydrophobic polyphenol found in the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa). It has widely studied pharmacological activities such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial.
In addition, due to its polyphenolic nature, it has also been studied for its enormous therapeutic potential to delay aging, as well as prevention and treatment of age-related pathologies.