How much could anti-aging supplements boost the effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine?
How could immune-boosting drugs improve the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines?
How anti-aging drugs could boost COVID vaccines in older people
Nature Journal, October 14, 2020
The world-renowned academic journal Nature recently published an interesting article titled, "Anti-aging drugs can boost the immune function of the elderly, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of vaccines."
COVID-19 hospitalization index
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), eight out of ten deaths from COVID-19 in the United States are adults aged 65 or older.
In particular, people in their 50s are at a higher risk of developing serious illness from COVID-19 than those in their 40s, and those in their 60s and 70s are at a higher risk than those in their 50s.
Why does the risk of getting coronavirus increase as you get older?
As we age, telomeres shorten as cells divide repeatedly in our body, and eventually we reach the limit called the Hayflick limit, where cell division stops.
Normally, the immune system removes these senescent cells that have stopped dividing, but as we age, the immune system weakens, allowing senescent cells that are not removed to continue to accumulate.
These aged cells act like 'zombies', affecting normal cells and reducing overall bodily functions.
This "immunosenescence" explains why older adults are vulnerable to COVID-19.
In particular, as we age, the number of immune cells called 'T cells' that attack viruses and 'B cells' that produce antibodies decreases, and the resulting constant inflammatory response makes us vulnerable to external pathogens.
But! This can create another problem.
US FDA
The U.S. company Moderna is developing a vaccine using RNA, the genetic material of the coronavirus, and reported that in a clinical trial of 40 people aged 56 and older, the antibody levels were similar to those of younger people. In addition, China's Sinovac announced in September that it was developing a vaccine (CoronaVac) using the virus itself to eliminate infectivity, and that in a clinical trial of 421 people aged 60 to 90, the vaccine showed the same effect as in younger people.
However, the COVID-19 vaccine "BNT162b2," developed by Pfizer in the US and BioNTech in Germany, was only half as effective in the elderly as in younger people, the company announced. Given the lower efficacy in the elderly, vaccine developers are moving to minimize clinical trials involving the elderly.
Could anti-aging drugs boost vaccine responsiveness in older adults?
Many scientists have revealed that anti-aging substances can delay the aging of the immune system and increase the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine, and inhibiting a protein known as 'mTOR' is closely related to extending lifespan, and various studies related to mTOR are currently being conducted.
What anti-aging substances can inhibit mTOR?
The correct answer is metformin and fisetin.
Nature cited metformin and fisetin as anti-aging substances that could enhance the response to COVID-19 vaccines. Metformin and fisetin were already introduced as anti-aging agents in Harvard Professor Sinclair's book, "The End of Aging."
Metformin indirectly inhibits mTOR, and Chinese researchers reported that COVID-19 patients taking metformin had a mortality rate of 2.9%, compared to 12.3% for those not taking the drug. While the reason metformin lowers the mortality rate in COVID-19 remains unknown, it's believed to promote energy metabolism in immune cells called T cells, making them more effective at capturing the virus.
Fisetin is known as the most powerful senolytic drug for killing senescent cells, or 'zombie cells'.
"Senolytic" is a compound word of "senescence" and "lytic," referring to substances that eliminate senescent cells from the body. These senolytic drugs are said to boost the anti-aging immune system by killing senescent cells, which could enhance the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
Last August, Professor Kirkland and his team at the Mayo Clinic in the United States announced that they were conducting a clinical trial involving 60 to 70 people to determine whether fisetin, a natural compound found in strawberries, could prevent the worsening of COVID-19 symptoms. Professor Kirkland also noted, "While we're working on COVID-19 vaccinations, we need to find safe and effective ways to target the fundamental mechanisms of aging."
The global COVID-19 vaccine race clearly demonstrates how crucial it is to strengthen aging immune systems. As the COVID-19 pandemic has brought awareness to previously overlooked aspects of our lives, various efforts to boost immunity are necessary.
[1] How anti-aging drugs could boost COVID vaccines in older people, Nature journal (2020) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02856-7
[2] CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) (updated 2021)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/older-adults.html