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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Small extracellular vesicles from young mice prevent frailty, improve healthspan and decrease epigenetic age in old mice

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SummaryAging is associated with an increased risk of frailty, disability, comorbidities, institutionalization, falls, fractures, hospitalization, and mortality. Searching for strategies to delay the degenerative changes associated with aging and frailty is interesting. We treated old animals intravenously with small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) derived from adipose mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) of young animals, and we found an improvement of several functional parameters usually altered with aging, such as motor coordination, grip strength, fatigue resistance, fur regeneration, and renal function. Frailty index analysis showed that 40% of old control mice were frail, whereas none of the old ADSCs-sEVs treated mice were. Molecular and structural benefits in muscle and kidney accompanied this functional improvement. ADSCs-sEVs induced pro-regenerative effects and a decrease in oxidative stress, inflammation, and senescence markers. Moreover, predicted epigenetic age was lower in tissues of old mice treated with ADSCs-sEVs and their metabolome changed to a youth-like pattern. Finally, we gained some insight into the miRNAs contained in sEVs that might be, at least in part, responsible for the effects observed. We propose that young sEVs treatment can be beneficial against frailty and therefore can promote healthy aging.