In what can be seen as a major boost for medical science, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center researchers have managed to induce a phase of reversible hibernation in mice.
Such induced ‘suspended animation’ might go a long way in treating cancers and arresting death due to injury and inadequate blood flow to tissues and organs in conditions like heart attacks and hypothermia.
“We are, in essence, temporarily converting mice from warm-blooded to cold-blooded creatures, which is exactly the thing that happens naturally when mammals hibernate,” said Mark Roth, the lead author of the study. Roth said that this might be ‘a latent ability that all mammals have, potentially even humans’.
During the experiment, scientists made mice inhale hydrogen sulfide gas for around six hours. Soon, the mice started entering a state where their oxygen intake dropped along with their metabolic rate and body temperature. Later, when the hydrogen sulfide environment was removed, the mice came back to their normal physical state. No obvious behavioral or functional complications were noted. Hydrogen sulfide, produced during the breakdown of proteins, regulates metabolic activity.
“Instead of keeping you going at the same metabolic rate, we’d turn down your metabolic rate, thereby slowing your capacity to die. Manipulating this metabolic mechanism for clinical benefit potentially could revolutionize treatment for a host of human ills related to ischemia, or damage to living tissue from lack of oxygen,” said Roth.
However, the premise needs deeper research and human trials before it can be applied practically. The safety of such induced hibernation also needs to be checked thoroughly since in high doses hydrogen sulfide can prove fatal to humans.
The findings have been published in medical journal
Science.
