Laser to Destroy Lipofuscin for Anti-Aging Purposes

Will researchers in the future use laser light for anti-aging purposes? It sounds like something out of crank alley, but there may actually be something to it. Lipofuscin is something that accumulates within the lysosomes of human cells. The lysosomes are small organelles that are located within every cell. They contain digestive enzymes and are able to break down several different products such as bacteria, viruses and food particles inside the cell. Thus the lysosomes are vital for clearing out waste products in the cell. Without them, molecules are more likely to build up within the cell causing further damage.

Lipofuscin may form due to the peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids. Lipofuscin contains a variety of metals and also sugar. The accumulation of lipofuscin may be due the faulty cell disposal mechanisms. Lipofuscin accumulation may be a risk factor for a variety of different diseases. These diseases include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and amyotrphic lateral sclerosis. Lipofuscin may actually even be a cause of aging. As lipofuscin increases in amount, the lysosomes are no longer able to breakdown the various products any more. Thus toxic stuff begins to accumulate to a greater degree inside the cell.

Now some researchers have proposed using Laser light to destroy lipofuscin. Doing this could in theory rejuvenate cells and make them less likely to age. This could be a method of slowing the aging process.

Here is our concept. Take a pulsed laser, hit a large portion of tissue with it, and only the cells which contain lots of lipofuscin will be affected. If we use our parameters right, only the lipofuscin granules themselves will be affected, and we could leave intact the things we do not want to get rid of, like neurons and cardiac myocytes. That is the general idea. Selective absorption means selective destruction. This has been shown in a number of papers if you want to search the literature.

It sounds like they have already had some preliminary success with doing this.

I would just like to leave you with a couple key points here. Initial results in our lab have shown that lasers can selectively affect the lipofuscin, so we are on the right track. It has been proven to penetrate several centimeters in soft tissue, at least. This is useful as a treatment in us, in mammals, in mice—very encouraging. It is proven to selectively destroy pigments, leaving the rest of the cells and tissues intact. I say “proven” because if you look at the literature, especially in ophthalmology and dermatology, and it is definitely there. To me, I think this has very exciting potential to postpone aging.