Anti-aging: senolytics, the best way to stay young

Published September 23, 2020

Do you want to delay the negative effects of aging and stay fit and healthy for as long as possible, to get the most out of life and time spent with loved ones? Discover senolytics, the ultimate weapon for fighting the aging process.

Guides and tutorials Healthy Aging

What exactly are senescent cells?

Let’s first remember that every cell has a limited lifespan. Once a cell has reached the end of its life, it self-destructs, so as not to needlessly ‘clutter up’ the body. This natural process is called apoptosis.

Only it sometimes happens that certain of these ‘worn-out’ cells do not enter this programd cell death phase. Known as senescent cells, they continue to roam the body.

To begin with, our immune defenses manage to eliminate them. But it doesn’t take long before senescent cells accumulate and overwhelm the immune system which is then no longer able to get rid of them.

Senescent cells, a major cause of aging

The accumulation of senescent cells in the body eventually causes significant damage: it encourages nearby healthy cells to become senescent too, it promotes the secretion of inflammatory molecules, and impairs tissues and organs... For example, when our skin loses elasticity and luminosity, and becomes increasingly thin as we age, it is largely because of senescent cells building up over many years.

A number of researchers therefore believe that cellular senescence plays a key role in aging and in age-related health problems as a whole (1).

How can you cleanse your body of senescent cells?

Let’s now turn our attention to helping your body get rid of these errant cells. Naturally enough, the first step is to adopt a sensible lifestyle :

ensure you eat a varied, balanced diet ;
try to get enough sleep ;
make regular exercise a priority.

These simple, practical tips will help to improve your immunity and make it easier for these ‘zombie’ cells to be eliminated.

Senolytics, a revolutionary advance in the fight against aging

Alongside these simple measures, it also makes sense to take advantage of substances called senolytics. Senolytics represent a real turning point in the fight against aging.

The term ‘senolytic’ comes from the word ‘senescence’ and the suffix ‘lytic’ which means ‘able to destroy’; thus these compounds are thought to be able to eradicate senescence. A number of scientific studies have shown that taking senolytics helps to accelerate the elimination of senescent cells and thus reverse the aging process (2-4).

Fisetin, an exceptional natural senolytic

Key among the effective natural senolytics is fisetin, an excellent antioxidant polyphenol. This compound is found in certain trees such as as acacia and Nootka cypress, and in small amounts in strawberries (5-6).

Several studies suggest that fisetin is effective at eliminating senescent cells (7-8). If you’d like to benefit from its effects, why not start a course of Fisetin supplements now?

Fisetin is also believed to be a powerful calorie restriction mimetic and thus able to activate autophagy (the body's mechanism for cleaning out toxins in cells). (9)

Quercetin, another antioxidant with senolytic properties

On the subject of natural senolytics, we must also mention quercetin. Known to be the most active of the flavonoids, this natural pigment is found in small amounts in capers, chillies and elderberries. It too is an excellent antioxidant (10).

Studies suggest that quercetin also has significant senolytic benefits (11-12). To take maximum advantage of them, choose the supplement Super Quercetin.

An anti-aging formula packed with synergistic senolytics

Last but not least, you could also opt for a more comprehensive formulation that combines several senolytics selected for their synergistic potential. One such supplement is the excellent product Senolytic Complex.

This supplement not only contains fisetin and quercetin, but also bromelain, black tea extract and nicotinamide (an excellent compound known for increasing levels of sirtuins, the ‘proteins of longevity’).

References

van Deursen JM. The role of senescent cells in ageing. Nature. 2014;509(7501):439-446. doi:10.1038/nature13193
Zhu Y, Tchkonia T, Pirtskhalava T, et al. The Achilles' heel of senescent cells: from transcriptome to senolytic drugs. Aging Cell. 2015;14(4):644-658. doi:10.1111/acel.12344
Ellison-Hughes GM. First evidence that senolytics are effective at decreasing senescent cells in humans. EBioMedicine. 2020;56:102473. doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2019.09.053
Kirkland JL, Tchkonia T, Zhu Y, Niedernhofer LJ, Robbins PD. The Clinical Potential of Senolytic Drugs. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2017;65(10):2297-2301. doi:10.1111/jgs.14969
Khan N, Syed DN, Ahmad N, Mukhtar H. Fisetin: a dietary antioxidant for health promotion. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2013;19(2):151-162. doi:10.1089/ars.2012.4901
Grynkiewicz G, Demchuk OM. New Perspectives for Fisetin. Front Chem. 2019;7:697. Published 2019 Oct 30. doi:10.3389/fchem.2019.00697
Yousefzadeh MJ, Zhu Y, McGowan SJ, et al. Fisetin is a senotherapeutic that extends health and lifespan. EBioMedicine. 2018;36:18-28. doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.09.015
Zhu Y, Doornebal EJ, Pirtskhalava T, et al. New agents that target senescent cells: the flavone, fisetin, and the BCL-XL inhibitors, A1331852 and A1155463. Aging (Albany NY). 2017;9(3):955-963. doi:10.18632/aging.101202
Jia, S., Xu, X., Zhou, S. et al. Fisetin induces autophagy in pancreatic cancer cells via endoplasmic reticulum stress- and mitochondrial stress-dependent pathways. Cell Death Dis 10, 142 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-019-1366-y
Anand David AV, Arulmoli R, Parasuraman S. Overviews of Biological Importance of Quercetin: A Bioactive Flavonoid. Pharmacogn Rev. 2016;10(20):84-89. doi:10.4103/0973-7847.194044
Zhu Y, Tchkonia T, Pirtskhalava T, et al. The Achilles' heel of senescent cells: from transcriptome to senolytic drugs. Aging Cell. 2015;14(4):644-658. doi:10.1111/acel.12344
Lewinska A, Adamczyk-Grochala J, Bloniarz D, et al. AMPK-mediated senolytic and senostatic activity of quercetin surface functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles during oxidant-induced senescence in human fibroblasts. Redox Biol. 2020;28:101337. doi:10.1016/j.redox.2019.101337