14 DAY TRIAL // Having carried out a series of experiments on laboratory mice, researchers have found that ibuprofen is kind of like an anti-aging cream for lungs. An anti-aging cream that actually works and sticks to its promise to make folks look young again, to be more precise.
Thus, scientists with Ohio State University in the US say that, according to evidence at hand, ibuprofen has the potential to reduce the inflammation that lungs experience as they age. Besides, it can boost the immune response.
The mice experiments
In a paper in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, the Ohio State University scientists explain that, as part of this investigation, they first examined the lungs of both old and young laboratory mice and found clear signs of inflammation in the former.
Then, the rodents were infected with tuberculosis bacteria (TB) and they all became sick. Just as expected, the older mice were found to have a more difficult time battling the TB infection.
What's interesting is that, judging by evidence at hand, their inability to clear their lungs of TB had something to do with the fact that their lungs were affected by inflammation at the time the scientists exposed them to the bacteria.
Having made these observations, the Ohio State University had both the old and the young mice take ibuprofen. The drug had a notable impact on the overall health condition of the old rodents, meaning that it reduced the inflammation in their lungs.
As a result, the immune cells of these mice had an easier time battling the TB infection. In fact, the rodents' immune response to the presence of the bacteria in their bodies was similar to the one documented in the case of the young specimens.
Despite the fact that they too were administered ibuprofen, the young mice did not experience any improvements in their body's ability to fight off TB. On the contrary, the infection simply ran its course unhindered.
“There’s a trend toward reduced inflammation. Essentially, ibuprofen made the lungs of old mice look young. Putting young mice on ibuprofen had no effect because they had no lung inflammation, which implies the ibuprofen reduced the inflammation and changed the immune response in the old mice.”
“It might be that ibuprofen works on specific pathways to lower inflammation, and that might help with control of TB,” explains Joanne Turner, professor of microbial infection and immunity and study senior author.
Importance of this study
The scientists behind this research project say that, at least for the time being, there is no reason to believe that people would derive great benefits from taking ibuprofen for the sole purpose of reducing inflammation in their body.
“You can actually reduce your inflammation as you age by being lean, eating well and exercising. And we know that in the elderly, people who are fitter live longer,” Joanne Turner wishes to stress.
However, the outcome of this series of experiments carried out on laboratory mice indicates that it might be possible to use ibuprofen to help elderly people diagnosed with TB have an easier time overcoming this disease.
Given the fact that tuberculosis kills about 1.4 million people annually and over 9 million individuals worldwide are estimated to be battling this disease at any given time, the find that ibuprofen could up the survival chances of elderly TB sufferers can only come as good news.