Russian scientists have identified plant substances that are capable of rejuvenating the body at the cellular level and increasing the lifespan of laboratory animals.
Scientists from several scientific institutions at once - the Institute of Biology of the Federal Research Center "Komi Scientific Center" of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar State University. Pitirim Sorokin, Institute of Molecular Biology. Engelhardt Russian Academy of Sciences and Research and Production Company "Initium-Pharm" - conducted a global survey study. They studied terpenoids, a wide class of secondary metabolites found in various herbs, flowers, trees, fruit and vegetable crops. It turned out that some of these compounds can effectively influence the mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases.
“A wide range of biological activities of terpenoids has been confirmed by a large number of studies,” says Ekaterina Proshkina, a senior researcher at the laboratory of geroprotective and radioprotective technologies at the Institute of Biology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. from age-related diseases ".
Researchers have found that terpenoids with the strongest properties are present among monoterpenes - the main components of the essential oils of fruits and various parts of conifers. Thus, limonene and its derivatives have chemopreventive activity against cancer of the breast, skin, liver, lungs and proventriculus. Camphene lowers plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Not surprisingly, some terpenoid complexes are already being used medicinally. For example, in medicine, preparations based on Siberian fir terpene are already successfully used, which contain more than 300 types of terpenes for complex therapy in the fight against the main age-related ailment - oncological diseases. These drugs are used as wound healing agents in patients with disintegrating tumors.
Scientific experiments have shown that these herbal ingredients can also rejuvenate skin cells by restoring their activity and slowing the progression of age-related changes.
“Aging and chronic ailments have a common genetic nature, so there is a real opportunity to increase the period of health - the period of life that a person lives without chronic ailments that reduce the quality of life,” explains Ekaterina Proshkina.
Research is ongoing. Now the next step is clinical trials of new drugs that are developed on the basis of terpenoids, as well as the improvement of existing ones, which will be made taking into account new discoveries.
