Advances in Restoring Aging Muscle and Aging Brain, in Mice

As we age, we can become sarcopenic and develop neurodegeneration. Two studies show that prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) might be important in both aging processes and that the processes might be reversible.

In mice, PGE₂ stimulates muscle stem cells and helps repair muscle damage. During aging, activity of an enzyme that degrades PGE₂ progressively increases in muscle macrophages. Inhibiting that macrophage enzyme activity in older mice, by either genetic or pharmacologic interventions, raises levels of PGE₂ and restores aged muscle: It becomes functionally and anatomically like the muscle of young mice.

However, in brain macrophages, PGE₂ levels rise with aging. New studies in mice show that this increase in PGE₂ leads to neuroinflammation and cogn…