AUTHOR=Ewald Collin Y. TITLE=Drug Screening Implicates Chondroitin Sulfate as a Potential Longevity Pill JOURNAL=Frontiers in Aging VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2021 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging/articles/10.3389/fragi.2021.741843 DOI=10.3389/fragi.2021.741843 ISSN=2673-6217 ABSTRACT=

Discovering compounds that promote health during aging (“geroprotectors”) is key to the retardation of age-related pathologies and the prevention of chronic age-related diseases. In in-silico and model organisms’ lifespan screens, chondroitin sulfate has emerged as a geroprotective compound. Chondroitin sulfate is a glycosaminoglycan attached to extracellular matrix proteins and is naturally produced by our body. Oral supplementation of chondroitin sulfate shows a high tolerance in humans, preferable pharmacokinetics, a positive correlation with healthy human longevity, and efficacy in deceleration of age-related diseases in randomized clinical trials. We have recently shown that chondroitin sulfate supplementation increases the lifespan of C. elegans. Thus, chondroitin sulfate holds the potential to become a geroprotective strategy to promote health during human aging. This review discusses the two major potential mechanisms of action, extracellular matrix homeostasis and inhibition of inflammation, that counteract age-related pathologies upon chondroitin sulfate supplementation.