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Platelets are behind the cognitive benefits of young blood, exercise and the longevity hormone klotho. In a remarkable convergence, scientists have discovered that the same blood factor is responsible for the cognitive enhancement that results from young blood transfusion, the longevity hormone klotho, and exercise. In a trio of papers, teams identify platelet factor 4 (PF4) as a common messenger of each of these interventions. As its name suggests, PF4 is made by platelets, a type of blood cell that alerts the immune system when there is a wound and helps to form clots. It turns out that PF4 is...

DALLAS – Feb. 17, 2011 – Low levels of the anti-aging hormone Klotho may serve as an early warning sign of the presence of kidney disease and its deadly cardiovascular complications, according to findings by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers. Using mice, investigators found that soft-tissue calcification, a common and serious side effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD), improves when Klotho hormone levels are restored. The study is available online in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The essential Klotho protein, which is produced by the kidneys, often plummets in CKD. This may explain why supplementing Klotho levels...