A new clinical trial is hoping to move the needle on therapeutic plasma exchange – and is looking for participants.
Plasmapheresis is a procedure that removes plasma from whole blood, swapping out unhealthy plasma and replacing it with healthy donor plasma or a plasma substitute. Plasma is part of blood, a fluid made up of water, proteins and essential nutrients. In certain diseases, as well as in aging individuals, certain harmful substances accumulate in plasma and may lead to organ damage. Plasma’s regenerative capacity means it also has potential to target multiple diseases of aging. Lyfspn, a company backed by Khosla Ventures, is conducting a plasmapheresis trial in the San Francisco Bay Area for longevity benefits – and is actively seeking trial participants, particularly those from the biohacking community.
I was ready to submit my name too, but: “Exclusion criteria include those with active cancer or active infection and other medical contraindications and Kiprov is also ruling out those taking medications unproven for longevity in humans, such as rapamycin.”
I don’t know exactly what type of plasmapheresis they are proposing in this trial, but here’s a link appearing to provide more details and discussion.
In a seminal paper by Conboy, they replaced old plasma and replaced half with saline/albumin.
A personal communication from Conboy comparing to blood donation:
“For the paper, we changed out about half of the plasma in the mouse, and the similar procedure for humans changes out around 90% of the plasma. Donating a unit of blood removes a pint, from a total of around 5 quarts, so only around 10%. So “in theory”, I doubt the benefits of a blood donation could be as dramatic as what we observed for the paper. But it might have more subtle benefits”
I have been donating every 8 weeks for years, original motivation to dump iron (another intervention/thread), but appears to be rejuvenating at multiple other levels. At my pace and blood donation qty, I am completely replacing my systemic blood/plasma, every 18 months.
“Our data demonstrate that a single NBE suffices to meet or exceed the rejuvenative effects of enhancing muscle repair, reducing liver adiposity and fibrosis, and increasing hippocampal neurogenesis in old mice, all the key outcomes seen after blood heterochronicity. Comparative
proteomic analysis on serum from NBE, and from a similar human clinical procedure of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE), revealed a molecular re-setting of the systemic signaling milieu, interestingly, elevating the levels of some proteins, which broadly coordinate tissue maintenance and repair and promote immune responses. Moreover, a single TPE yielded functional blood rejuvenation, abrogating the typical old serum inhibition of progenitor cell proliferation. Ectopically added albumin does not seem to be the sole determinant of such rejuvenation, and levels of albumin do not decrease with age nor are increased by NBE/TPE. A model of action (supported by a large body of published data) is that significant dilution of autoregulatory proteins that crosstalk to multiple signaling pathways (with their own feedback loops) would, through changes in gene
expression, have long-lasting molecular and functional effects that are consistent with our observations. This work improves our understanding of the systemic paradigms of multi-tissue rejuvenation and suggest a novel and immediate use of the FDA approved TPE for improving the health and resilience of older people.”
Here’s a study on 915 50 yr olds using Double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP).
Application of biological age assessment of Chinese population in potential anti-ageing technology
Results
“Based on the comprehensive blood test and analysis, the ageing biomarkers were screened, and the male and female biological age assessment formulas were established. Then, the elimination of ageing biomarkers by double filtration plasmapheresis was examined. Double filtration plasmapheresis can eliminate ageing biomarkers, with an average of 4.47 years decrease in age for males and 8.36 years for females.”
I have some good news to announce. I was selected to participate in this TPE / Plasmapheresis clinical trial and began my treatments this week. I’ll be doing 1 treatment a week, and a total of 6 treatments over a three month period. I stopped rapamycin a few weeks prior to my first TPE/Plasmapheresis treatment and will pause the rapamycin during the entire clinical trial.
As part of the entry into the trial they first have you submit a bunch of blood test results (they initially asked for a ton of things that are not regularly done that would have cost $1,000 to $2,000, but then when I think they got a lot of pushback on that, they settled on the “Life Extension Male Panel Blood Test” for $300, and they sit down with you to do a general health survey and test your grip strength and do a standing test (single leg, eyes open). and a walking speed test.
I think I’ll do my own blood tests after every two plasmapheresis treatments so that I can do my calculations for the Levine Phenotypic calculations and see if there are any noticeable differences (and if not, that could just mean I’m in the “control group”).
I was in the initial stages of the vetting process for selection for the trial. I chose not to proceed due to their initial blood test requirements and the need to fly to SF 6 times and possibly 12 times if i received the placebo and after the trial wanted to continue with actual plasmapheresis.
I hope you have a good result and experience and look forward to hearing your results. I am hopeful but skeptical. This research is very important.
Yes - the original blood tests were pretty crazy and I almost backed out of the program, until they lowered the blood test requirements.
And I probably wouldn’t have participated if their office was further away. As it is, they are about 10 minutes away from where I live, so its very convenient. I will update you as things progress!
I go in for my final two plasmapheresis sessions this week (each one 3 hours long). Then I will do some blood testing and report on the full experience!
Update: My mistake… I still have one more month of the trial, so an additional two plasmapheresis sessions next month. December I was to have two sessions but was traveling so did not get them.
One rapamycin trial, I think it was Pearl, offered free rapamycin to those who had been controls, after the trial was done. Anything like that in your plasmapheresis trial?
We are thrilled to announce two exciting new clinical trial opportunities at MaxWell Clinic! Our team is dedicated to advancing medical research and providing our patients with the latest and most effective treatments.
Let’s crack the code on aging, the number one cause of chronic disease. This is the most advanced study ever conducted into the age-reversal effects of plasma exchange. We’re recruiting a committed cohort for a paid trial to evaluate plasmapheresis as a potential rejuvenation/regeneration therapy. Specifically, this trial will be conducted to gather data on the impacts of plasmapheresis on aging, neurodegeneration, vascular health and immune function.
Plasmapheresis is an FDA-approved procedure for more than 50 indications and it has been shown to improve a range of health measures. We believe it may be beneficial for even relatively healthy individuals.
and a full list (not specific for aging, but you can scroll through and find the age-focused ones) here:
