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A Japanese study shows that the immune system of women ages at a slower rate than that of men.

The age-related decline in the number of T cells and B cells, and in the proliferative capacity of T cells, was greater in men than in women.

Scientists studying mice were able to reverse signs of ageing in the heart by using growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), which is found at higher levels in the blood of young mice.

The study was published in Cell, and Nature provides more background and quotes from the authors.

“I think it’s a stunning result that, for the first time, points at a secreted protein that maintains the heart in a young state,” says cardiologist Deepak Srivastava, director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, California, who was not involved with the research. “That’s pretty remarkable.”

The team now plans to investigate whether GDF11 effects ageing in other tissues in mice and if it could have similar effects in humans.

Ageing is a result of gradual and overall functional deteriorations across the body; however, it is unknown whether an individual tissue primarily works to mediate the ageing progress and control lifespan.

Scientists studying mice found that the hypothalamus is important for the development of ageing.

Animals lived longer than normal when they were injected with a substance that inhibited the activity of NF-κB in immune cells called microglia in the hypothalamus. Mice that received a substance to stimulate the activity of NF-κB died earlier.

Scientists at Uppsala University have found that elderly obese patients have smaller brains.

292 elderly Swedish patients were examined using MRI. Those who were obese had 1.5% smaller total brain volumes and reduced total gray matter volume.

The results may provide evidence for cognitive suppression of appetite that may lower the risk of developing obesity in later life.

Scientists at the University of California found that sleep disruption in the elderly contributes to age-related cognitive decline

Age-related regional brain atrophy was associated with reduced slow wave activity (SWA) during non–rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, the consequence of which is impaired long-term memory.