The fight against aging takes one of the leading positions in cosmetology and medicine. And if it is no longer difficult to correct the external manifestations of aging, then it is much more difficult to slow down this process “from the inside”. And according to the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, recently Russian biologists from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have found a way to slow the aging of the body using the sleep hormone melatonin.
As you know, mitochondria play the main role in the aging process. These complex structures have their own DNA and are a kind of "energy stations" of the cells of our body, producing energy in the form of ATP. When mitochondria begin to work intermittently, a number of pathologies arise that lead to aging. Until now, it was believed that these diseases arise from mutations in the mitochondrial DNA that cannot be reversed, but this turned out to be not the case.
A group of scientists led by Oleg Krestin found out that the process mentioned above is not at all associated with mutations. The reason is a violation in the structure of mitochondria, and this process can be slowed down with the help of melatonin. Melatonin is a sleep hormone. It is responsible for the processes of falling asleep and waking up, and is also a powerful antioxidant. But scientists were attracted by another property of the hormone: the fact is that its concentration in the human body gradually decreases with age, which causes drowsiness in the elderly. The researchers decided to find out if these processes have a relationship.
"With age, the" energy "cells become more" leaky "- pores appear in them, through which the mitochondria leave the" extra "calcium ions, accumulating inside them due to the fact that older mitochondria are less able to cope with stress and the appearance of aggressive molecules within their limits … Over time, this process leads to the destruction of the mitochondria and the launch of the cell's self-destruction program. In our experiments on mitochondria isolated from rat liver, we showed that long-term intake of melatonin promotes the closure of pores in mitochondria and prevents the escape of enzymes. Continuous intake of melatonin, even in older animals, improves mitochondrial function."
Experiments on cells of rats and mice have shown that the addition of melatonin actually protects the mitochondria and retains important enzymes responsible for the assembly cycle of ATP molecules inside them, which prevents the appearance of "extra" molecules, aging and cell death.
VLADIMIR KUZNETSOV