Natural hormone oxytocin helps aging muscles rejuvenate
Release date: 2014-06-13
Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley found that oxytocin, a hormone associated with maternal parenting, social attachment, childbirth, and sex, is an indispensable substance in mice to maintain and repair healthy muscles. Decreased by age.
The new study, published in the June 10 issue of Nature Communications, proposes oxytocin as the age-related muscle atrophy as the latest therapeutic target.
Although some other blood biochemical factors have been linked to aging and disease in recent years, oxytocin is the first anti-aging molecule to be used by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human clinical use. Synthetic oxytocin Pitocin has been used to help with childbirth and to control postpartum hemorrhage. A clinical trial of an oxytocin nasal spray has also been launched in full swing to alleviate some of the symptoms associated with mental illnesses such as autism, schizophrenia and dementia.
Irina Conboy, the research leader and associate professor of bioengineering, said: "Unfortunately, most of the molecules that promote tissue regeneration to date have been linked to cancer, limiting their therapeutic potential in humans. Our goal is to find a molecule. It not only restores youthful aging muscles and other tissues, but also maintains long-term effects without increasing cancer risk."
Conboy and her team say that oxytocin secreted from the pituitary gland into the blood is a good candidate because it is a widely distributed hormone that reaches every organ and has not yet been confirmed to be tumor-related. Or it will interfere with the immune system.
a happy hormone
Oxytocin is sometimes referred to as a “trust hormone†because it is associated with love and friendship (extended reading: PNAS's new view: the “immoral†role of “moral†molecules). A warm hug, a handshake or a gaze of love are accompanied by oxytocin release, which also increases sexual desire. During or after childbirth, this hormone enters the peak period, helping new mothers and newborns to establish bonds and breastfeed their children.
Conboy said: "When you see kittens, puppies and human babies, this hormone melts your heart. Our research team has a joke, we are all so happy, friendly and trustworthy, Because the laboratory is full of oxytocin."
The researchers pointed out that although oxytocin is present in young men and women, it is not clear when the level of oxytocin in the body begins to decline and the level necessary to maintain healthy tissue.
Senior researchers at Conboy Laboratories Christian Elabd and Wendy Cousin are co-leaders of the study.
In previous studies, Elabd found that administration of oxytocin helped prevent osteoporosis in mice that had undergone ovariectomized simulated menopause.
Extra oxytocin is more beneficial for older mice
New research has determined that oxytocin levels in the blood decay with age in mice. They also confirmed that there were fewer oxytocin receptors in muscle cells of aged mice compared to younger mice.
To clarify the role of oxytocin in muscle repair, the researchers injected the hormone into the skin of aging mice within 4 days and injected 5 days of oxytocin after damaging their muscles. They found that mice treated with oxytocin injection for 9 days had much better muscle healing than the control mice.
Elabd said: "The effect of oxytocin is rapid. The age of muscle repair in aged mice reaches 80% of young mice."
Interestingly, the additional oxytocin administered to young mice did not appear to cause significant changes in muscle regeneration.
"This is very good because it confirms that additional oxytocin can enhance aging tissue stem cells without causing uncontrolled division of muscle stem cells," Cousin said.
The researchers also found that blocking these effects of oxytocin in young mice quickly destroyed their muscle repair capacity, similar to the aging tissue after injury.
The researchers also studied mice that lost function of the oxytocin gene and compared them to the control group. At a young age, there was no significant difference in muscle mass or post-injury repair efficiency between the two groups of mice. It is not until the oxytocin-deficient mice enter adulthood that some signs of premature aging begin to appear.
Conboy said: "When other genes associated with tissue repair lose function, defects occur immediately during embryonic development or early in life. As far as we know, the oxytocin gene is the only gene seen in the later stages of life. It shows that its role is closely related to the aging process."
Future treatment plan
Cousin noted that oxytocin may be a viable alternative to hormone replacement therapy to combat some of the symptoms of aging in men and women and to achieve long-term health. Hormone therapy does not improve muscle agility or regenerative capacity and is no longer recommended for disease prevention because the study found that the benefits of this treatment are no greater than its health risks.
In addition, oxytocin is also expected to improve bone health, which may play an important role in combating obesity.
Conboy said her lab plans to test the effects of oxytocin on prolonging the healthy life of animals and maintaining their healthy anti-aging effects in humans.
She pointed out that more and more scientists believe that aging is a potential cause of many chronic diseases, including Parkinson's disease and type 2 diabetes.
Conboy said: "If you can target some processes related to aging, you may be able to cope with these diseases at the same time. Aging is a natural process, but I believe we can purposely intervene in organ decay caused by aging, thereby slowing down We are gradually losing the speed of health."
(He Wei)
Source: Biopass
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