Vitamin C Partly Slows Bone Marrow Aging in Monkeys
Graded Preliminary — an experiment in monkeys using single-cell analyses; animal findings do not transfer directly to people, and the abstract gives neither animal numbers nor dose.
Animal study. Findings may not carry over to people, which is why the grade is capped at Preliminary.
- Design
- Animal study
- Participants
- —
- Duration
- —
- Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
In monkeys, long-term vitamin C partly held back the loss of immune cell precursors in aging bone marrow.
Bone marrow is where blood and immune cells are made, and it slows down with age. In monkeys, vitamin C taken by mouth over a long period held back part of that decline. Judged by which genes were active, the marrow of treated animals looked about four years younger.
The researchers examined the marrow one cell at a time and read out each cell's active genes. Old animals had lost many of the precursor cells that become lymphocytes, a key group of immune cells. Their blood stem cells instead leaned toward making other cell types. With vitamin C, these precursors became more plentiful again and the balance partly shifted back. An epigenetic clock, which estimates age from chemical tags on DNA, pointed the same way.
The team names a signalling protein called progranulin as a possible route. In human cells grown in the lab, it copied some of vitamin C's effects. Still, the study measured cells and gene activity, not infections or disease. Whether vitamin C affects human bone marrow in a similar way was not tested.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: One author is employed by Altos Labs, and another sits on the journal's advisory board.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.