USC researchers discover a natural hormone that could reverse the effects of inflammaging

Researchers at USC’s Keck School of Medicine have discovered a natural hormone that could reverse the effects of Inflammaging. 

The USC team, led by surgery and immunology professor Fumito Ito, found in a new study that a hormone called “thymulin” could be the key to controlling inflammaging and slowing down biological aging.

Inflammaging is tied to several age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, metabolic conditions, and neurodegenerative disorders. The condition progressively worsens as people age. 

For such a life-threatening condition, scientists have been struggling to understand what fuels age-related inflammation and ways to restore immune functions affected by it. 

USC researchers identify thymulin as a key regulator of inflammation

In their study, the USC researchers found that thymulin output declines with age, and as it falls, the chances of inflammation rise as well, pointing to the hormone, produced by a small organ called the thymus behind the breastbone, as a key regulator of inflammaging. 

“This is the first evidence of a substance that is naturally produced in the thymus, declines with age, and has the power to reverse age-related inflammation,” said Professor Ito. 

The team made this finding by surgically linking an old mouse to a young one, a technique known as heterochronic parabiosis, where both mice shared the same blood circulation. 

The procedure increased the levels of thymulin in the older mouse, which saw an increase in their antitumor immune response and overall survival. 

“Together, these findings uncover a pathway linking aging, inflammation and cancer immunity, and suggest thymulin as a potential strategy to improve cancer immunotherapy in older individuals,” said Ito.

At the moment, the work sits in mice and lab dishes, and not in people. Ito’s team said thymulin could eventually be tested in clinical trials for cancer and other conditions. 

Next, they plan to study the role of thymulin in other chronic diseases and also explore whether the hormone influences how tumors form and spread.

Researchers make another major discovery in anti-aging

The USC team’s findings today are yet another major discovery in the ongoing battle against aging. 

Last week, another group of researchers at Revel Pharmaceuticals created an enzyme that strips advanced glycation end products (AGEs) off proteins in aged human tissue. For decades, scientists have viewed AGEs as irreversible.

The enzyme specifically targets Nε-carboxymethyl-lysine, or CML, which is the most abundant AGE. It oxidizes any CML modification and then restores the protein to its original lysine residue, Cryptopolitan reported. 

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