Young Blood Helps Old Animals, but Human Proof Is Still Missing
Graded Preliminary — a review without a systematic search that mainly summarizes animal experiments and observational data; large human trials with random assignment are still missing.
- Design
- Narrative review
- Participants
- N/A
- Duration
- —
- Funding
- Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB)
Young blood made several tissues look younger in animal experiments, but a benefit in people has not been shown.
Blood may do more than reveal how fast we age. It might also help set the pace. That is the case a team of Korean researchers makes in a new review. In one analysis of 51,408 people, a kind of clock built from blood proteins estimated age very closely. Being off from that estimate was tied to the risk of dying and to 18 chronic diseases.
The second role of blood is the more striking one. In animal experiments, researchers joined the circulation of young and old animals or transferred young plasma, the liquid part of blood. Several tissues then looked younger in gene activity, metabolism and chemical marks on DNA. Some blood components even extended lifespan in animals. Diluting or replacing old plasma also eased age-related decline.
In people, the evidence is thin. In one trial, older adults having hip or knee surgery were chosen at random to get a protein product from young donor plasma. Their inflammation response after surgery changed measurably. A small study in people with brain diseases found no proven benefit. In 2019 the US Food and Drug Administration warned against commercial young plasma infusions as unproven and risky, citing infections and lung injury.
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.