Betulinic acid reduced signs of artery aging in mice
In genetically altered mice fed a high-fat diet, the compound reduced artery stiffness and the thickness of two layers of the carotid artery wall.
Limit: The abstract did not report adverse effects
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In experiments with mouse aortic smooth muscle cells—cells from the wall of the body’s main artery—researchers used oleic acid, a fatty acid, to induce senescence, a state in which cells stop dividing. Betulinic acid bound to a protein that regulates fatty acid breakdown and reduced markers of senescence. Making the cells produce extra amounts of that protein restored fatty acid breakdown and abolished the compound’s effects on senescence.
The researchers also tested betulinic acid in mice lacking the apolipoprotein E gene and fed a high-fat diet. It reduced artery stiffness and the combined thickness of the inner and middle layers of the carotid artery in the neck. These changes accompanied less fat deposited in blood vessels and a lower burden of senescence.
Why it matters
Blood-vessel aging under metabolic overload raises questions about how cells use fat. The findings point to regulating fatty acid breakdown as a potential treatment strategy for metabolic blood-vessel disease.
Caveats
These were experiments in cells and genetically altered mice, not people. The conference abstract did not report sample sizes, betulinic acid doses, treatment duration or adverse effects.
The paper
Nankai University; 301 Hospital
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
