Suppression of Inflammatory Signaling as a Treatment for Frailty

Age-related frailty is accompanied by marked chronic inflammation, and indeed much of the physical weakness of frailty is likely caused by long-term inflammation and the ways in which it disrupts muscle tissue maintenance. The tools presently available to suppress inflammation are somewhat blunt, interfering in the necessary signaling needed to maintain a normal immune response, as well as in the unwanted overactivation of the immune system found in older people. Nonetheless, such tools are slowly becoming better and more selective over time, and some are now being tested as treatments for frailty. Earlier this year, MyMD Pharmaceuticals merged with Akers Biosciences to form a new company focused on developing and commercialising novel immunotherapy therapies. The company's lead compound is MYMD-1, an indirect inhibitor of TNF alpha. The company CSO refers to the trial in January as a "sarcopenia/longevity" study, because "the FDA isn't accepting longevity or aging as an indication." There's also the fact that a true longevity study would require following people for many years, so it makes sense to focus on "markers like muscle loss, weakness, frailty, increased predisposition for age-related pathology, and the like." The key proposition behind MyMD-1 is its ability to reduce chronic inflammation through the inhibition of several key cytokines, including the oft-cited TNF alpha. "TNF alpha is the star of the show. It's the first proinflammatory cytokine to go...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs