Blocking a pain receptor in mice proved to lengthen their life spans and give them a more youthful metabolism. The effect could improve insulin responses which would allow them to handle high blood sugar.
"We think that blocking this pain receptor and pathway could be very, very useful not only for relieving pain, but for improving lifespan and metabolic health, and in particular for treating diabetes and obesity in humans," Andrew Dillin, a professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and senior author of a new paper describing these results, said in a news release. "As humans age they report a higher incidence of pain, suggesting that pain might drive the aging process."
A migraine drug that is already on the market inhibits a protein called CGRP that is triggered by the pain receptor TRPV1. This drug proved to improve metabolic function in older mice.
"Our findings suggest that pharmacological manipulation of TRPV1 and CGRP may improve metabolic health and longevity," Dillin, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Research, said. "Alternatively, chronic ingestion of compounds that affect TRPV1 might help prevent metabolic decline with age and lead to increased longevity in humans."
TRPV1reacts to painful events such as burns, it stimulates the release of inflammation-causing substances; it also prompts the release of CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide), which prevents insulin release, which contributes to diabetes 2.
The team also found that mice genetically modified to lack TRPV1 receptors lived about 14 percent longer than normal mice and possessed "youthful metabolisms."
"Throughout aging, these mice showed improved ability to quickly clear sugar from the blood as well as signs that they could burn more calories without increasing exercise levels," the news release reported.
