Procaine-The Controversial Geroprotector Candidate: New Insights Regarding Its Molecular and Cellular Effects.
Daniela GradinaruAnca UngurianuDenisa Marilena MarginaMaria Moreno-VillanuevaAlexander BürklePublished in: Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity (2021)
Since its discovery in 1905 and its employment in everyday medical practice as a local anesthetic, to its highly controversial endorsement as an "anti-aging" molecule in the sixties and seventies, procaine is part of the history of medicine and gerontoprophylaxis. Procaine can be considered a "veteran" drug due to its long-time use in clinical practice, but is also a molecule which continues to incite interest, revealing new biological and pharmacological effects within novel experimental approaches. Therefore, this review is aimed at exploring and systematizing recent data on the biochemical, cellular, and molecular mechanisms involved in the antioxidant and potential geroprotective effects of procaine, focusing on the following aspects: (1) the research state-of-the-art, through an objective examination of scientific literature within the last 30 years, describing the positive, as well as the negative reports; (2) the experimental data supporting the beneficial effects of procaine in preventing or alleviating age-related pathology; and (3) the multifactorial pathways procaine impacts oxidative stress, inflammation, atherogenesis, cerebral age-related pathology, DNA damage, and methylation. According to reviewed data, procaine displayed antioxidant and cytoprotective actions in experimental models of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, lipoprotein oxidation, endothelial-dependent vasorelaxation, inflammation, sepsis, intoxication, ionizing irradiation, cancer, and neurodegeneration. This analysis painted a complex pharmacological profile of procaine: a molecule that has not yet fully expressed its therapeutic potential in the treatment and prevention of aging-associated diseases. The numerous recent reports found demonstrate the rising interest in researching the multiple actions of procaine regulating key processes involved in cellular senescence. Its beneficial effects on cell/tissue functions and metabolism could designate procaine as a valuable candidate for the well-established Geroprotectors database.
Keyphrases
- oxidative stress
- dna damage
- ischemia reperfusion injury
- electronic health record
- healthcare
- clinical practice
- systematic review
- adverse drug
- diabetic rats
- heart failure
- stem cells
- dna repair
- left ventricular
- induced apoptosis
- young adults
- big data
- machine learning
- nitric oxide
- risk assessment
- squamous cell carcinoma
- mental health
- mesenchymal stem cells
- stress induced
- brain injury
- single cell
- radiation therapy
- intensive care unit
- artificial intelligence
- gene expression
- papillary thyroid
- climate change
- human health
- septic shock
- data analysis
- smoking cessation
- cerebral blood flow