Daily briefing: Stem-cell treatment strengthens people with age-related frailty

"Researchers administered one of four doses of stem cells to 118 people between 70 and 85 years old, all of whom had frailty. In a timed walking test nine months after treatment, those who had received the highest dose could walk about 60 metres farther, on average, than they could before treatment."

"Acetate, a metabolic by-product of the body breaking down alcohol and glucose, can enhance memory in mice - but only in females. Researchers set the animals two object-matching tasks that rely on the dorsal hippocampus, the brain's memory‑forming region. Female mice that had been given acetate performed better on both tasks than those given a placebo."

Researchers administered stem cell doses to 118 people aged 70-85 with frailty. Nine months after treatment, those receiving the highest dose showed significant improvements in walking distance, covering approximately 60 meters farther than baseline. Stem cell recipients demonstrated greater likelihood of improvement on clinical frailty scales compared to control groups. Additionally, acetate, a metabolic byproduct from alcohol and glucose breakdown, enhances memory in female mice by altering gene expression in the hippocampus, though this effect does not occur in males. The briefing also addresses academic integrity concerns regarding researcher interactions with convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein, resulting in loss of titles and positions for some academics.

Read at Nature