What allows some people to reach 100 years old and remain healthy? Swiss researchers have investigated the blood of centenarians—and identified “youth-associated proteins.”
Medical advancements are enabling more people to live to very old age. In Switzerland, for example, the number of people over 85 has increased significantly in the last fifty years. Experts predict this trend will continue, with estimates suggesting that half of all children born in an industrialized country after 2000 will live to be 100 years old.
Centenarians are of particular interest in aging research. Studies have shown they exhibit higher resilience and a significantly lower susceptibility to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, and cardiovascular disease compared to the general population.
But what is the key to longevity? A research team from the Swiss Universities of Lausanne and Geneva investigated the blood of people of different ages to better understand the mechanisms of healthy aging. They found that the blood of centenarians contained certain proteins remarkably similar to those found in younger individuals. The results of the “Swiss100” study were recently published in the journal “Aging Cell”. This research offers potential insights into interventions that could promote healthier aging for a broader population.
For the analysis, the scientists compared three groups: 40 centenarians, 60 people aged 80, and 40 adults between 30 and 60 years old. Using the 80-year-olds as a baseline, researchers were able to distinguish between characteristics associated with typical aging and those unique to people who reach 100.
In total, the researchers analyzed 724 proteins in the participants’ blood that are involved in aging processes and maintaining health. They found significant differences in 37 of these proteins: the levels of these 37 proteins in the centenarians more closely resembled those of the youngest comparison group than those of the 80-year-olds. Researchers referred to these proteins as “youth-associated proteins.”
“In our centenarians, the profiles of these 37 proteins are more similar to those of the youngest age group than to those of the eighty-year-olds. This corresponds to about five percent of the measured proteins and suggests that centenarians do not completely escape the aging process, but that certain key mechanisms are significantly slowed down,” said Flavien Delhaes, the study’s first author, in a statement.
The most pronounced differences were observed in five proteins linked to oxidative stress, a process suspected of accelerating aging. Oxidative stress has two main causes: chronic inflammation and malfunctioning mitochondria, which release harmful molecules.
“Centenarians have lower levels of such proteins than the average older population. At first glance, this seems counterintuitive. However, it means that our centenarians require less antioxidant proteins to defend against oxidative stress due to the significantly lower levels,” Delhaes explained.
Likewise among the 37 proteins were those involved in cancer defense, as well as some that support or even optimize metabolism. Levels of proteins associated with inflammation were low.
“Our study underscores the importance of a healthy lifestyle, which we can all actively influence. Since the genetic component of longevity accounts for only about 25 percent, lifestyle in adulthood is a crucial factor,” the authors concluded.
