Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have just published an exciting new cord blood study. It shows that a protein in cord blood is able to improve the memories of older mice. The researchers believe that the findings may eventually lead to a treatment for age-related memory loss in humans.
As humans age, there is a gradual reduction in cognitive ability. It becomes more difficult to learn new things and remember information. Scientists have been working on ways to help older people retain their cognitive abilities, as it would greatly improve the quality of their lives.
This new cord blood study was designed to test the ability of cord blood plasma to improve cognition. The mice used in the study received transfusions of blood plasma from older people, blood plasma from younger people, and cord blood plasma obtained from discarded umbilical cords. They found that cord blood plasma gave the best results, with significant improvements in memory and learning capacity.
The researchers ran a series of experiments and discovered that a protein called TIMP2 was responsible for cord blood being more effective at improving cognition.
As Dr. Joseph Castellano from the Stanford University School of Medicine explains: “It is similar to observing a person try to navigate through a crowded garage to locate their parked car. Before being treated, their performance during the maze test ‘wasn’t very impressive.’ It took them a long time to learn and remember the location of the escape hole, and some didn’t manage at all. But after cord plasma treatment, both the time (it took to) find it, the rate at which they’d find it, and the fact that they do find it was improved and changing.”
The scientists then gave the mice TIMP2 transfusions without plasma to see if their cognition improved. They found that it did, which means this protein plays an important role in cognition. The findings from this cord blood study may lead to treatments that improve cognition in the elderly.
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