(ISSN 2638-1311)
OBM Geriatrics is an Open Access journal published quarterly online by LIDSEN Publishing Inc. The journal takes the premise that innovative approaches – including gene therapy, cell therapy, and epigenetic modulation – will result in clinical interventions that alter the fundamental pathology and the clinical course of age-related human diseases. We will give strong preference to papers that emphasize an alteration (or a potential alteration) in the fundamental disease course of Alzheimer’s disease, vascular aging diseases, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, skin aging, immune senescence, and other age-related diseases.
Geriatric medicine is now entering a unique point in history, where the focus will no longer be on palliative, ameliorative, or social aspects of care for age-related disease, but will be capable of stopping, preventing, and reversing major disease constellations that have heretofore been entirely resistant to interventions based on “small molecular” pharmacological approaches. With the changing emphasis from genetic to epigenetic understandings of pathology (including telomere biology), with the use of gene delivery systems (including viral delivery systems), and with the use of cell-based therapies (including stem cell therapies), a fatalistic view of age-related disease is no longer a reasonable clinical default nor an appropriate clinical research paradigm.
Precedence will be given to papers describing fundamental interventions, including interventions that affect cell senescence, patterns of gene expression, telomere biology, stem cell biology, and other innovative, 21st century interventions, especially if the focus is on clinical applications, ongoing clinical trials, or animal trials preparatory to phase 1 human clinical trials.
Papers must be clear and concise, but detailed data is strongly encouraged. The journal publishes research articles, reviews, communications and technical notes. There is no restriction on the length of the papers and we encourage scientists to publish their results in as much detail as possible.
Archiving: full-text archived in CLOCKSS.
Rapid publication: manuscripts are undertaken in 12 days from acceptance to publication (median values for papers published in this journal in 2021, 1-2 days of FREE language polishing time is also included in this period).
Special Issue
Reducing the Effects of Aging in Humans
Submission Deadline: May 01, 2023 (Open) Submit Now
Guest Editor
Dr. Loren Pickart
Skin Biology, 4122 Factoria Boulevard SE, Suite Number 200, Bellevue, WA, 98006, USA
Research Interests: GHK-Cu; Copper peptides; Anti-aging; Skin regeneration; Gene profiling; Gene expression; Anti-cancer gene expression; DNA repair; Anti-oxidant; Anti-inflammatory; Fibrinogen
About the topic
Reversing aging has been an impossible dream for humanity since the dawn of time. Early anti-aging remedies included medicinal herbs, powdered gems, gold, silver and even mercury. Many ancient mages and alchemists believed that the true “essence of youth” can be found in human blood and transferred from young to old people.
In 1962-1965 while completing my graduate studies at the University of Minnesota, I discovered that the albumin fraction of human blood plasma had a suppressive action on fibrinogen synthesis and also improved the survival of the cultured liver cells that produce fibrinogen. What’s even more impressive, when plasma taken from young subjects was added to liver tissue of older subjects, it made old liver cell produce proteins like much younger cells. It seemed as if young blood contained some “youth essence” just as ancient alchemists believed.
In 1973, during my Ph.D. thesis work at the UCSF (The University of California at San Francisco), I was able to identify a low molecular weight fraction of albumin, which had only three amino acids as Gly-His-Lys (GHK) plus copper (GHK-Cu). Since then, numerous studies in many laboratories of the world, demonstrated that the GHK peptide improves wound healing in experimental animals, stimulates production of collagen, elastin and glycosaminoglycans, improves hair growth, induces DNA repair in damaged fibroblasts, supports better antioxidant defense and blood vessel growth, displays anti-inflammatory effect and so much more. But the true power of the GHK peptide was revealed only recently, when several research labs established GHK-Cu as a potent regulator of gene expression. This quickly put the GHK peptide into a spotlight.
What causes human aging? Up until recently, scientists believed that human aging is partially caused by accumulating damage and partially it is programmed into our genes. Then, quite recently, it has been discovered that many lifestyle factors, which are known to promote vitality and delay aging, can also influence our genes, turning back the clock on human aging. For example, it was demonstrated that regular physical exercise can rejuvenate human DNA, shifting protein synthesis to younger pattern. In addition, positive emotions, meditation and some biologically active compounds, found in our food, such as flavonoids, are able to modify activity of certain genes, reducing inflammation, increasing antioxidant defense and stimulating the synthesis of proteins, characteristic to young individuals. Today we know that genes can be naturally silenced or activated. You can imagine this as a series of on/off switches installed into DNA, which allow the body to increase or decrease synthesis of selected proteins. Since many proteins are involved in intricate biochemical pathways, such DNA tune-up (or up- and down-regulation), can have a profound effect on cell’s biochemistry. It now becomes increasingly clear that the primary cause of human aging and its attendant diseases are changes in the activity of the human genome. During aging there is an increase in the activity of inflammatory, cancer promoting, and tissue destructive genes plus a decrease in the activity of regenerative and reparative genes. As we age, many genes, that are active in the young body, start shutting down, which negatively affects cellular functioning. This age-related changes in gene activity can be compared to piano, getting out of tune. Just like a discordant piano needs a tune-up, before it can play beautiful music, our genes need tune-up, before our bodies can get back to the harmony of youth and health.
Today we know, that this simple molecule, GHK-Cu, is capable of tuning up human genes, just like we would tune up a piano, restoring the harmony of physiological processes, enabling our body to get back to its most natural youthful and healthy state. GHK-Cu resets the human genome to a healthier state by up- and down- regulating activity of essential genes involved into wound healing, regulation of the cellular “garbage disposal system”, antioxidant activity, brain health and much more.
I have been studying GHK-Cu for over 50 years. Today, at the age of 83, I enjoy vibrant health, strong body and sharp intelligence – which is something that many people lose by that age.
In this special issue we will present more current research on the science of GHK-Cu peptide as well as review other up-to-date approaches to reverse human aging. After thousands of years of searching and exploring, the humanity has finally gotten very close to solving the ultimate puzzle of human aging. Therefore, it’s my honor to bring you this special issue and all the gems of anti-aging research it contains.
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Vidhi is a Clinical yoga therapist; mentor for yoga therapy training in Krishnamacharya tradition. She holds a MSc in Public health from Kings College London.
Mirela Olympia Fagarasan Palmer
Luigi Fontana, MD, PhD