Talk about staying young forever. While humanity is still obsessed with youth, it turns out, one organ has already understood! Your liver. If you are 20 or 80, your liver remains biologically at the age of three. Yes, that’s right. The international team of scientists has found that human liver remains biologically young throughout life, on average, just up to three years, regardless of the real age of man. A study led by the Dresden (CRTD) Center for Regenerative Treatment Center (CRTD) revealed that the liver supports its youthful state through a constant cell update. The results of the study are published in the Cell Systems magazine. Forever young liver
Fatty liver
The liver is an important body that is responsible for many vital functions, including clearing toxins from our bodies. As it is constantly engaged in toxic substances, the chances of it regularly suffer the injuries high. In order to overcome this, the liver has a unique ability to recover after damage. However, as we age, the body’s ability to heal itself and recover. This allowed scientists to think about whether the liver’s ability to update itself would affect. And guess that people live in people, it is a great secret. “Some studies have shown the possibility that liver cells live for a long time, and others found constant turnover. We realized that when we wanted to know what was happening in people, we need to find a way to directly evaluate the age of human liver cells,” said Dr. Olaf Bergman, leader of the research group at the TU DRESDEN Center (CRTD). To understand whether the age of the liver, the team of biologists, physicists, mathematics and clinicians, led by Dr. Bergman, analyzed the liver of several people who died at the age of 20 to 84 years. And guess what? What they found was really strange. Regardless of the biological age of these people, their liver was more than one age.“No matter if you are 20 or 84, your liver stays on average a little up to three years,” Doctor Bergman explains.Young but not all
Although the liver continues to remain under the age of three, not all cells are so young throughout the human life. The share of them can live up to 10 years before updating yourself. This liver subpopulation carries more DNA than typical cells. “Most of our cells have two sets of chromosomes, but some cells accumulate more DNA as it ages. After all, such cells can carry four, eight or even more chromosomes,” Dr. said Bergman.
He added: “When we compare typical liver cells with cells richer in DNA, we have found fundamental differences in their updates. Typical cells are restored once a year, while cells in DNA can be in the liver for up to a decade,” says Dr. Bergman. “As this share gradually increases with age, it can be a protective mechanism that protects us from the accumulation of harmful mutations. We need to find out if there are similar mechanisms for chronic liver diseases that can turn into cancer in some cases.“
“Our study shows that the study of cell renewal is directly difficult in people, but it can give an unmatched idea of the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms of human regeneration,” said Dr. Bergman.
