Kirkland, Quercetin and Kidney Injury in Mice
Eternal Search links Kirkland to quercetin through a finding that dasatinib plus quercetin reduced kidney injury in diabetic mice, while his role in the experiment and quercetin's separate contribution remain unknown.
Dasatinib and quercetin reduced kidney injury in diabetic mice
The combination reduced kidney inflammation and injury, as well as the abundance of senescent cells, meaning cells in a state of cellular senescence.
This finding underlies the connection between James L. Kirkland and quercetin in Eternal Search. Kirkland, a physician-scientist, helped establish cellular senescence as a therapeutic target for age-related disease. Quercetin is a natural flavonoid with senolytic activity: it helps kill senescent cells.
However, the reported result concerns two compounds given together. The available evidence cannot isolate quercetin's contribution or establish that the reduction in senescent cells caused the kidney improvements. The benefits and safety of this treatment in humans have not been established. Kirkland's role in this experiment is also unknown.
This edge has a concrete experimental basis and a useful limitation: the reported kidney effects came from a two-compound treatment in diabetic mice.