Those who are seeking the fountain of youth, take heed: a common skin care ingredient is identified to mimic the anti-aging effect of calorie restriction.

The new study written by a University of Liverpool team in the journal Aging Cell, used genetic testing and data analysis to show for the first time that allantoin, a typical anti-aging facial cream ingredient, increased lifespan in worms by over 20 percent.

Calorie restriction has been seen to slow the aging process in a number of animal subjects, and the team believed drugs and treatments that can reproduce its effects can be used in a wide variety of human purposes.

“While more work is necessary, our findings could potentially result in human therapies for age-related diseases,” reported lead author Dr. João Pedro de Magalhães of the Institute of Integrative Biology of the university in the UK.

The researchers used current molecular signatures from cells, which were treated with different small-molecule drugs.

They then used algorithms to find the link between drug compounds and the benefits of calorie restriction – a process that produced 11 potential compounds, with five employed on nematode worms.

Worms treated with allantoin, rapamycin, trichostatin A, and LY-294002 had longer and healthier lives. The compounds given to mutant worms, too, extended lifespan similar to what is expected in restricting calorie intake.

The results also suggested that allantoin acts through a mechanism different from rapamycin, which is a renowned longevity agent.

Allantoin is used as a moisturizer for dry, rough, itchy skin and treatment of wounds and ulcers. It is usually derived from cows' uric acid and many plants such as comfrey.

The good news is it is not suspected to be toxic, persistent in the environment, or bioaccumulative, according to the Environment Canada Domestic Substance List.

"Testing anti-aging interventions in humans is not practical, so developing computational methods to predict longevity drugs is of great use,” said author Shaun Calvert, a Ph.D. student.

Calvert said that after this worm study, they intend to proceed with using mammal models to further understand the way by which allantoin fights off aging.“[T]his could reveal new longevity pathways,” Calvert added.

Photo: Sunshine City | Flickr