If you are following my blogs – which let’s be honest, you should be; they are super informative and it saves you having to read all these journals – you know I am a bit obsessed with my Science of Aging Supplement in the latest issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Is it because I am a *gasp* middle aged woman? Is it that my skin is starting to wrinkle and droop and do all the things I know it was going-to-do-but-hoped-it-wouldn’t? Maybe.
The latest article was “Mitochondrial Secrets to Youthfulness.” You may be asking yourself, what is a mitochondria? That brings you back to middle school biology, where you learned about the cell and all of the things in it: the nucleus, mitochondria, golgi apparatus, the endoplasmic reticulum… Mitochondria are thought of as being the “powerhouse of the cell.” It makes ATP, which is the energy for the cell.
The article goes on to talk about the skin (which I discussed in a previous blog). The skin is the largest organ, you can see it as it ages, it has assaults from inside- genetic, metabolic, etc- and outside-smoking, pollution, UV rays. Melanin has a significant role in the rate and degree of skin aging, as those with more melanin get less UV damage and the skin tends to have a thicker stratum corneum which helps preserve skin elasticity.
So why do we care about mitochondria?
Mitochondria are the cellular hub of reactive oxygen species. This leads to mutations in the DNA of the mitochondria as it ages. With aging, the mitochondria DNA synthesis is impaired, and it causes mitochondrial DNA to be depleted.
In mice when they depleted the mitochondrial DNA, they found gray hair and profound hair loss occurred. It also caused wrinkles in the skin. There was infiltration of inflammatory cells into the skin.
When the mitchochondrial DNA content was restored, there was a reversal in many skin issues: wrinkles and hair loss improved, inflammation reduced, and the skin changed. I wish you could see the photos. The mitochondrial DNA depleted mouse is wrinkly and bald, and when they repleted the mouse, it is furry and lush.
!!!
What do I think?
SIGN ME UP. I love that these studies are looking at how to truly reverse aging. All of these treatments though are still in the lab. With all of these, you have to figure out the right dose, how to administer, and if there are any bad side effects (wouldn’t want to be hairy everywhere, or grow cancers, etc).
Go mitochondria, go.