The Nasal Spray That Reverses Brain Aging

First let’s note: biological age is not one thing but quite a lot of things, each of which can age at different rates.

See for example: Age & Aging: What Can (And Can’t) We Do About It?

So, when we say “reverses brain aging”, this really is just about brain aging, not the rest of the body, and specifically is about inflammatory aging (which, in fairness, is the most clinically-relevant kind of brain aging for most people).

So, while not a magical fountain of youth in all respects, this is very important:

Who nose how much difference this could make

Researchers (Dr. Padmashri A. Shetty et al.) gave aging mice two doses of a nasal spray containing extracellular vesicles* derived from human induced pluripotent stem cell neural stem cells, and the treated mice later showed less brain inflammation, healthier mitochondrial function, and better performance on memory tasks.

Importantly, the results lasted for months after just the two doses!

*We wrote about these before, here: The Brain Alarm Signs That Warn Of Dementia ← this is for when the blood gets (in very lay terms) bits of broken brain in it. Or more specifically, they tested the blood for density of cerebrovascular endothelial extracellular vesicles (CEEVs), which are bits of the cells from the lining of blood vessels in the brain. These cerebrovascular endothelial extracellular vesicles should not, ideally, be falling off and riding around your bloodstream, and the greater the density of them, the greater likelihood of mild cognitive impairment now, and by extension, dementia later.

This treatment was delivered intranasally because doing it that way allows molecules to bypass much of the blood-brain barrier* without surgery.

*And for more about that, you can read one of our guest articles, here: Our blood-brain barrier stops bugs and toxins getting to our brain. Here’s how it works

It works through two main pathways, which are:

• Against neuroinflamamtion: the study found reductions in activity related to the NLRP3 inflammasome and the cGAS-STING pathway, both strongly associated with chronic age-related brain inflammation.
• Protecting mitochondrial health: the treated mice showed improved expression of genes involved in mitochondrial respiratory chain integrity and oxidative phosphorylation, which is important because aging brains often develop impaired mitochondrial function, reducing cellular energy production, and thus (of course) reducing cognitive function.

In particular, many neurodegenerative conditions involve chronic neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, so a noninvasive method like this that meaningfully helps against both is very promising indeed!

All that said, it does need to go through human trials next, and the nasal spray wasn’t a simple over-the-counter product, but rather was an advanced experimental therapy involving the aforementioned stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles manufactured under laboratory conditions—meaning we can’t expect it to hit pharmacy shelves soon.

Nevertheless, you can read the paper in full here: Intranasal Human NSC-Derived EVs Therapy Can Restrain Inflammatory Microglial Transcriptome, and NLRP3 and cGAS-STING Signalling, in Aged Hippocampus

And if you’d like to rejuvenate your brain in other ways while you’re waiting, then consider:

• When Age Is A Flexible Number
• Do Try This At Home: The 12-Week Brain Fitness Program
• Is There A Limit To How Much You Can Improve Your Brain?

Want to learn more?

You might like this book we reviewed a while back:

The Age-Proof Brain: New Strategies to Improve Memory, Protect Immunity, and Fight Off Dementia – by Dr. Marc Milstein

Take care!