Its Japanese name literally means “the leaf of tomorrow”. The Japanese plant Ashitaba would hold within it a molecule with anti-aging benefits, according to Austrian scientists.
THE’Ashitaba, Where Angelica keiskei koidzumi of its learned name, is a plant of the apiaceae family, such as celery, carrot or parsley. Cultivated for more than 2000 years in Japan, it is particularly known for its health and longevity benefits. And although its virtues are yet to be demonstrated, a study published in the journal Nature Communications this Tuesday February 26 highlights in the plant a substance that could effectively help fight against aging.
Promote autophagy
With his team, researcher Frank Madeo, professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Graz (Austria) identified in Ashitaba a flavonoid (substance present in plants), 4,4′-dimethoxychalcone or more simply DMC. In yeasts, they discovered that this molecule promotes the process ofautophagy, that is, the mechanism to prevent the accumulation of waste in cells. They then performed the same test on worm and fly cells. “Remarkably, treatment with DMC prolonged the average lifespan of these organisms by about 20%”, note the authors of the study.
“It is always pleasant to discover that remedies carried by a popular tradition have a scientific merit”, enthuses AFP cited by The duty Frank Madeo. But the researchers did not stop there. They tested DMC on cells from mouse hearts, as well as on several types of human cells. Here again, the aging of cells has been slowed down. “This experiment seems to show that the effects of DMC could apply to humans, although we must be careful and wait for real clinical trials”, he specifies.
In 2016, Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi, honorary professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, won the Nobel Prize in medicine for his “discoveries on the mechanisms of autophagy”. The process decreases especially with age. Its dysregulation can thus lead to many pathologies, such as neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.
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