An American research team has identified it and has discovered a mechanism that could be the key to longevity.
A hitherto unknown mechanism could be the key to longevity. This was discovered by an American research team who managed to induce an anti-aging response in laboratory models by increasing the expression of a single gene, called adh-1, which codes for the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase. In other words, through some experiments in model organisms, such as the Caenorhabditis elegans and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiaescholars have observed that the increase in gene expression adh-1 it is enough to delay aging, suggesting that the same may also be true for humans. The identification of this mechanism, dubbed by the researchers AMAR – , acronym of Alcohol and aldehyde deidrogenase Mediated Anti-aging Respouse – was detailed in an article published in the magazine Current Biology.
For the researchers, the discovery came quite unexpectedly. “We followed a very well-supported hypothesis that the secret to longevity lies in the activation of a cellular rejuvenation process called autophagy, but we found an unknown mechanism of extension of health and life spanexplained Eyleen Jorgelina O’Rourk, a senior research scientist at the University of Virginia and corresponding author on the study.
C. elegans it shares more than 70 percent of its genes with humans, and over the years, this little worm has proven to be an incredibly valuable tool in scientific research. Previous searches on C. elegans and other organisms had led O’Rourke and his team to believe that autophagy might be the key to longevity, but the new research showed that activating that mechanism is unnecessary.
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The anti-aging response can instead be induced through a different mechanism, called precisely AMAR, which leads to an increase in the metabolism of two toxic by-products of fat which over time naturally accumulate in the body, glycerol and glyceraldehyde. In the experts with C. elegansAMAR activation improved the health and lifespan of the worms 50% without any increase in autophagy. In a later experiment, the researchers were able to activate the AMAR effect simply by increasing the expression of the gene adh-1 which codes for the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase.
Clearly, to confirm that these observations in humans, further studies will be needed, but the first findings by scholars have confirmed that the increase in the expression of the enzyme has similar beneficial effects also on the lifespan of yeasts. The researchers then evaluated the available literature on this enzyme, found a correlation between increased alcohol dehydrogenase levels and fasting/calorie restriction (which they consider an anti-aging intervention) in mammals, including humans.
Scientists suspect that our glycerol and glyceraldehyde levels naturally increase over time because they are fat by-products of which we store more as we age. Thus, activating AMAR could offer a way to ward off fat-derived toxicity, extend healthy lifespan, and perhaps even help us shed a few extra pounds.
“We hope to catalyze interest in developing AMAR-targeted therapies O’Rourke added. As age-related diseases are currently the major health burden for patients, their families and the health care system, target the aging process itself would be the most effective way to reduce this burden and increase the number of years of healthy independent living for all of us”.