Apple peel extract helps reverse ageing
We're beginning to understand the causes of ageing and how to reverse the process, thanks to apples. A team has found that a combination of dasatinib – a leukaemia drug – and quercetin – an extract from apple peel – can make elderly mice live 36% longer.

These drugs were chosen for their ability to selectively kill so-called senescent cells. These abnormal cells are in the process of breaking down, but they resist dying. They usually start appearing in the human body in our 60s, although they can arise much earlier in people who are obese or experience a chronic disease.

These drugs were chosen for their ability to selectively kill so-called senescent cells. These abnormal cells are in the process of breaking down, but they resist dying. They usually start appearing in the human body in our 60s, although they can arise much earlier in people who are obese or experience a chronic disease.
Some have suggested that these cells kick the ageing process into action. Now James Kirkland of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and his colleagues have shown that this does seem to be the case. When they injected small numbers of senescent cells into young, 6-month-old mice, their speed, endurance and strength fell by 20-50% within a few weeks, sinking to the level of a typical elderly, 2-year-old mouse.
“We wouldn’t believe it for a long time, so we did it again and again and again,” says Kirkland. “It was weird to get this result with so few cells.”
To block the effect of senescent cells, the team looked for drugs that might destroy them. They selected a combination of dasatinib and quercetin because both interfere with senescent cells’ ability to avoid death.
When they gave this combination to young mice that had aged due to injected cells, they recovered 50-100% of their lost physical capabilities within two weeks.
When the team gave the drugs to old mice – aged between 24 and 27 months old – their speed, endurance and strength improved by between 30 and 100%, and their remaining lifespan was 36% longer than those that weren’t given the drug
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