Preventing rather than cure is a bit of the objective of the study conducted by Isabelle Ader and her team of researchers. From in particular from INSERM, the University of Toulouse, the CNRS or the French Blood Establishment, they study a hypothesis, still unexplored, according to which the cells of our skin could allow us to predict the way in which we are going to age.
« If longevity explodes in developed countries [estimée aujourd’hui à 85 ans en moyenne en France, ndlr], Healthy life expectancy remains stable and caps at 65, which means 20 years of poor health on average », Notes Isabelle Ader, Inserm researcher, in charge of the study. A reality that prompted the scientist to question the markers of aging and the ways involved in the development of the most commonly encountered diseases such as cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases or metabolic diseases such as diabetes.
« Our goal is to help anticipate the most treated illnesses today, to act before this requires therapeutic management She sums up. The team of researchers thus constituted a cohort, called Inspire-T and composed of 133 patients, aged 20 to 96, regularly subject to skin biopsies to recover certain cells from their skin, fibroblasts. Their research work, published in the journal Aging Cell suggest that these cells could contain precious clues to the global state of health of individuals.
Fibroblasts, mirror of the health of an individual
According to WHO, good health is defined by five major functions: locomotion, cognition, sensoriality, vitality and psycho-social. All of these factors constitute the intrinsic capacity score. “” To identify the molecular markers of aging, we have integrated three pillars essential to the regulation of the homeostasis of individuals: metabolism, inflammation/immunity and structure “Explains Isabelle Ader.
Starting from the hypothesis that fibroblast could be the mirror of the individual’s health, researchers relied on the cohort Inspire-T of patients to recover cellular samples and identify the biological, clinical and environmental factors that can influence our health. “” Each year, a precise clinical phenotyping of each volunteer is carried out by clinicians of the Toulouse gerontopole, which allows us to define an intrinsic capacity score for each individual She explains.
But then why fibroblasts as a study model? “” First, because they are present in all the tissues of the organism, but also because they are involved in regeneration, immunity and metabolism control mechanisms », Argues Isabelle Ader. Fibroblasts are also an easily accessible model to identify markers related to aging, taken via simple skin biopsies.
Subject to various stress factors mimicking those encountered in life, such as infection or chemotherapy, fibroblasts have revealed 16 markers of aging, five of which reflecting the general and functional health of patients. Led in collaboration with Columbia University in New York (United States), a reference in the field of aging, the study notably proved that the health of an individual was independent of his age.
The periostine, a bad health marker
Among the markers of interest identified by the researchers is the periostine, a protein of the extracellular matrix found in reduced quantity in people of the cohort called ” fragile ». However, this decrease, combined with a failure of the mitochondrial function of fibroblasts has also been observed in people with low intrinsic capacity. “” This marker, independent of the age or sex of patients appears as an indicator of cellular fragility and confirms that fibroblast could keep the memory of the health of an individual », Enthuses Isabelle Ader.
A hypothesis which attributes an important potential to fibroblasts for early detection of diseases, above all clinical sign. “” Our work opens up concrete perspectives in early detection of signs of fragility or decrease in physical and cognitive capacities in preventive medicine She adds.
It remains to understand the mechanisms associated with the appearance of this poor functional health. “” If markers can help predict the occurrence of diseases associated with the most common age, this does not mean that they are at the origin of pathology, so it is essential to continue our research to prevent all these diseases “Says the researcher.
If his work is the subject of a patent filed in 2024, Isabelle Ader now hopes to share these discoveries with industrialists. “” For example, we plan to collaborate with dermo-cosmetics industries to develop and deploy commercial detection tools or kits on a commercial scale She projects. If the biopsy represents a relatively invasive sampling mode, the researcher hopes to see new skin examination tools arrive soon, easy to use and accessible to all.
While the aging of the population represents a major societal challenge all over the world, the work carried out by the team of Isabelle Ader could help to review the paradigm of the management of aging patients. “” Succeeding in detecting aging before it requires curative treatment would relieve the health system, faced with ever more important demand », Analysis Isabelle Ader. “” According to WHO, aging healthy means doing what you want, when you want, and that’s exactly what we want to help prolong “, She concludes.
