Old Gastrointestinal Drug Slows Aging

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Old Gastrointestinal Drug Slows Aging

Wednesday, January 7, 2009 9:29 AM

http://www.newsmax.com/health/gastro_drug_aging/2009/01/07/168640.html

Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol - an 80-year old drug

once used to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders - can

reverse the progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's

diseases. Scientists, however, had a variety of theories to attempt to

explain how a single compound could have such similar effects on three

unrelated neurodegenerative disorders.

Researchers at McGill University have discovered a dramatic possible

new answer: According to Dr. Siegfried Hekimi and colleagues at McGill's

Department of Biology, clioquinol acts directly on a protein called CLK-1,

often informally called " clock-1, " and might slow down the aging process.

The advance online edition of their study was published in Oct. 2008 in the

Journal of Biological Chemistry.

" Clioquinol is a very powerful inhibitor of clock-1, " explained

Hekimi, McGill's Strathcona Chair of Zoology and Archibald &

Louise Chair in Developmental Biology. " Because clock-1

affects longevity in invertebrates and mice, and because we're talking about

three age-dependent neurodegenerative diseases, we hypothesize that

clioquinol affects them by slowing down the rate of aging. "

Once commonly prescribed in Europe and Asia for gastrointestinal

problems like diarrhea and shigella, clioquinol was withdrawn from the

market after being blamed for a devastating outbreak of subacute myelo-optic

neuropathy (SMON) in Japan in the 1960s. However, because no rigorous

scientific study was conducted at the time, and because clioquinol was used

safely by millions before and after the Japanese outbreak, some researchers

think its connection to SMON has yet to be proven.

The exact mechanism of how clioquinol inhibits CLK-1 is still under

investigation, Hekimi said. " One possibility is that metals are involved as

clioquinol is a metal chelator, " he explained. Chelation is a type of

binding to metal ions and is often used to treat heavy metal poisoning.

Hekimi is optimistic but cautious when asked whether clioquinol could

eventually become an anti-aging treatment.

" The drug affects a gene which when inhibited can slow down aging, " he

said. " The implication is that we can change the rate of aging. This might

be why clioquinol is able to work on this diversity of diseases that are all

age-dependent. "

However, he admits to being concerned about how people may interpret

his results.

" The danger is that you can buy a kilogram of this compound at a

chemical wholesaler, but we don't want people to start experimenting on

themselves. Clioquinol can be a very toxic substance if abused, and far more

research is required. "