Anti-ageing gene shown to reduce heart age by 10 years

“Scientists at the University of Bristol and the MultiMedica Group in Italy have identified an anti-ageing gene that can reverse the heart’s biological age by 10 years.
The gene, known as the longevity-associated variant (LAV) of the BPIFB4 gene, is prevalent in centenarians and has been shown to protect cells in patients with heart failure.
The team also found that a single administration of the LAV-BPIFB4 gene in middle-aged mice halted the decline in heart function and even reversed the heart’s age by over ten years in elderly mice. This discovery could provide a potential target for treating patients with heart failure in the years to come.
“The researchers’ in vitro and in vivo findings are reported in Cardiovascular Research, in a paper titled “The longevity-associated BPIFB4 gene supports cardiac function and vascularization in aging cardiomyopathy,” in which they concluded, “The present study integrates multiple, mutually supporting lines of evidence for the protective role of LAV-BPIFB4 against age-related heart disease … These findings open to using LAV-BPIFB4 to reverse the decline of heart performance in older people.”
Older people develop progressive cardiac dysfunction, for which there is no specific treatment, the authors noted. “… moreover, the use of common cardiovascular medications represents a clinical challenge in this category of patients.” Madeddu further explained, “The heart and blood vessel function is put at stake as we age”
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What we (Muhdo Health) have found?
We have quite a complex set of calculations that look at a whole range of genetic markers which are associated with cardiovascular issues such as CDKN2A, CDKN2B, CDKN2BAS, R451Q, MTHFD1L, APOE, SEZ6L, MIA3, CXCL12, SMAD3.
This then provides us with a polygenic risk score for each individual, which we can then categorise into four specific areas such as Low, Normal, Increased and High Risk.
Interestingly, we have seen a strong correlation with these genetic factors and elevated epigenetic biological age. We have also seen that those same markers and risk factors can in many ways be negated if following a healthy diet and lifestyle.
For instance, cocoa has many positive health benefits, but when it comes to cardiovascular health, it has one specific antioxidant called epicatechin, which crosses the blood brain barrier upregulating brain neurotrophic factor (BNDF) as well as NO production to improve vasodilation.
Exercise is extremely useful at reducing the NADPH enzyme, which is a major source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) causing oxidative damage within the blood vessels. It also helps to decrease the levels of the PAI-1 enzyme, which affect the cells lining the blood vessels. This controls cell adhesion and clotting which can lead to thrombosis, atherosclerosis, metabolic syndrome and abnormal blood lipids.