Mechanism for reducing age-related neuroinflammation

As we age, our cells lose the ability to effectively eliminate the waste products they produce. This degeneration has serious consequences as it can cause inflammation and dysfunction throughout the body. A team of scientists at the University of Freiburg has now discovered that a specific drug treatment can alleviate this condition by stimulating a mechanism called mitophagy . Each of our 15 trillion cells produces waste products that need to be recycled like any other waste. The problem is that the efficiency of our intracellular cleansing system, called autophagy, decreases with age. The effects are particularly noticeable in the neurons, where waste products accumulate that can lead to chronic inflammation and neuronal death. A study by Patricia Boya from the University of Freiburg in collaboration with Margarita Salas from the CSIC in Spain investigated whether, despite the ageing process, our cells retain another, more specific type of autophagy, known as mitophagy, which specializes in the maintenance and recycling of mitochondria, the energy power plants of our cells.