PACA nanomedicines for targeting age-related changes in liver endothelium for prevention of diseases of old age (PACA-Pill)
PACA nanomedicines for targeting age-related changes in liver endothelium for prevention of diseases of old age (PACA-Pill)
There is an exponential increase in most diseases with old age, and consequently ageing is established as the most significant risk factor for disease. Novel therapeutic approaches targeting biological changes of ageing have been increasingly advocated by the scientific community. About 75% of people over 75 years have diabetes or pre-diabetes and/or hyperlipidemia. These are established risk factors for cardiovascular outcomes, and risk factors for geriatric conditions such as dementia, sarcopenia, frailty and osteoporosis. Our research at the Universities of Tromsø (UiT) and Sydney (USyd) has focused on age-related changes in the liver microcirculation, in particular within liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC), as a cause for this susceptibility to high blood lipids and insulin resistance in old age, and loss of liver mediated waste clearance functions essential for homeostasis. Finding ways to reverse these age-related changes in LSEC will fill a significant gap in therapeutic options available for the treatment of ageing disorders. Our objective (UiT and USyd), together with the Nanomedicine Division at SINTEF Trondheim, is to establish novel pharmaceutical means to "refenestrate" and reinvigorate LSEC in the elderly, and thus reverse the above age-related disorders.
Partners:
Research Council of Norway FRIPRO Grant Agreement No. 325446