OU Health Sciences Center researchers have found the first link between a recently discovered anti-aging gene and high blood pressure. The results could yield new and inexpensive treatments for hypertension and uncover mysteries of aging, several OU researchers said during a news briefing Tuesday at the OU Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Dwight Reynolds, section chief of cardiology at the OU Health Sciences Center, said the research was a major development in medicine.
“To be on the cusp ... of being able to find something that would contribute dramatically not only to the control of hypertension but to the ravaging effects of hypertension on the eyes, on the kidneys, on the heart, on the brain, and to all the blood vessels of the body is truly remarkable,” Reynolds said.
Dr. Zhongjie Sun, associate professor of physiology, led a team of researchers in experimenting the effect of an anti-aging gene called klotho on reducing high blood pressure. The results found the increased expression of the gene in laboratory subjects not only halted rising blood pressure, but also lowered it. The results also yielded total reversal of kidney damage, which can occur with persistent high blood pressure and can lead to kidney failure.
Sun said the injection of the gene would have no side effects and would be less expensive and more comfortable than pharmaceutical drugs, which need to be taken daily and often cause harmful side effects.
“One single injection [of the klotho gene] can produce months to years of anti-hypertensive effects,” Sun said.
The klotho gene exists naturally in humans, but it loses its ability to produce klotho proteins over time. Because of the klotho gene’s ability to decrease blood pressure and maintain health of vital organs such as the kidneys, increasing the potency of the gene has the potential to increase lifespan. During testing, Sun said the lifespan of animals tested increased 20 to 30 percent.
“The big deal here is that cardiovascular problems are a primary difficulty as a function of age,” said William Sonntag, Ph.D, director of the Reynolds Oklahoma Center on Aging. “If we can have an intervention that targets those endpoints, we have something that could be very powerful to increase lifespan, increase health span.”
The klotho gene is delivered by using a FDA-approved virus currently used for other gene therapies to direct the klotho gene into a person’s DNA, causing the body to create klotho proteins on its own, Sun said. The treatment could theoretically be permanent, though Sun said further testing will be needed to determine the exact results.
Receiving approval from the FDA to use the gene for patients is the next step, a process that could take one to five years, Sonntag said.
However, Sun said the proteins produced by the klotho gene are already FDA-approved and could possibly be put into a shake and drunk. The effects would not last as long as a direct injection of the gene, but would not need to be taken as often as pharmaceutical drugs.
Sonntag also noted the implications the research could have on health care costs. According to the American Heart Association, about one in three U.S. adults suffers from high blood pressure. Since hypertension has no symptoms, most people do not know they have it, which is why the AHA has dubbed it the “silent killer.”
“If we can increase the health of people for long periods of time, we increase their ability to be active and we decrease healthcare costs,” Sonntag said.
Though Sun’s research is groundbreaking, he will continue to seek answers to many more questions, such as why hypertension increases with age and how exactly the klotho gene works to reduce blood pressure.
“That’s what scientific research is all about,” Sontag said. “We still don’t have all the answers at this point.”
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efittery 2 years, 8 months ago
Sign me up for the shakes as soon as they are available.
Maybe I could get a franchise - after all, it is a protine powder and there are lots of protine powders availiable from lots of sources.
efittery 2 years, 8 months ago
Where can I get klotho gene theraphy or klotho hormone theraphy?
bellamora 1 year, 4 months ago
Various factors are responsible for aging,one of the most important is hyper tension. Klotho is a transmembrane protein that, in addition to other effects, provides some control over the sensitivity of the organism to insulin and appears to be involved in aging. bellamora