Exercise hormone linked to ageing
Wednesday February 19th, 2014
British researchers say they have found a new link between keeping fit and delaying ageing.
The
researchers say they have found a link between a hormone released after
exercise and a marker of genetic ageing.
The hormone, Irisin, has only been identified recently. It is released from muscle after bouts of exercise, and can instruct fat cells to burn energy rather than storing it. This increases the metabolic rate and may benefit weight control and age-related conditions.
Now, scientists from Aston University, Birmingham, UK, have found a significant link between Irisin levels in the blood and telomere length - a biological marker of ageing. Telomeres are areas at the end of chromosomes that shorten slightly every time the cell replicates, so short telomere length is an indicator for many age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's disease.
Dr James Brown and colleagues examined samples from a group of 81 healthy, non-obese people aged 18 to 83 years. All participants refrained from exercise for at least 12 hours and fasted for a minimum of 8 hours before the tests.
Results showed that those with higher blood levels of Irisin had longer telomeres. This means that, despite their actual age, these people were "biological younger" than those with lower levels of the hormone.
"Exercise is known to have wide ranging benefits, from cardiovascular protection to weight loss," said Dr Brown. "Recent research has suggested that exercise can protect people from both physical and mental decline with ageing. Our latest findings now provide a potential molecular link between keeping active and a healthy ageing process."
The study is published in the January issue of the journal Age. The team say they are now investigating how "technological, therapeutic and psychosocial strategies can be employed to understand and arrest age-related decline and degeneration".
Rana, K. S. et al. Plasma irisin levels predict telomere length in healthy adults. Age January 2014; doi: 10.1007/s11357-014-9620-9 [abstract]
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