Fisetin to Clear Senescent Cells
Following studies with mice that showed significant senolytic clearance of senescent cells following large doses of the readily available flavenoid supplement Fisetin, my wife and I (ages 79 and 84) decided to try it. We have just completed two sets of massive Fisetin doses.
We had Life Extension blood-work done in October before the start, and we will have more again next week to observe any changes. The first set of Fisetin doses was on October 22-25 with 800 mg/day for three days followed by 600 mg on the fourth day, for a total of 4 g. I didn't notice much in the way of effects. Perhaps some reduction of small aches and pains and some increase in energy and mental acuity.
For the second set of doses done November 22-26, since we experienced no negative side effects in the first set we decided to increase the dosage a bit and to add 10 mg of BioPerine, a supplement that is reputed to magnify the effects and potency of flavenoids. For five days starting on Thanksgiving we took 500 mg of Fisetin and 10 mg of BioPerine twice per day, for a total of 5 g of Fisetin.
This time. I did experience one negative side effect. A few months ago, about 2 AM in the morning I awoke from a deep sleep and experienced a severe episode of vertigo. I turned over in bed, and the the whole room seemed to tilt. Suddenly, I didn't know which way was up. I staggered to the bathroom and vomited. The symptoms tapered off and disappeared in a few days, but it was a very distributing experience.
On the 2nd day of our 2nd Fisetin series, I experience a recurrence of that vertigo in the middle of the night, not as bad as my initial experience but still rather disturbing. I tolerated this mild vertigo and continued the treatment. My wife had no similar symptoms, and after my last dose I experienced no further vertigo symptoms.
On the positive side, following the second set of dosages I did feel very well, and very sharp and alert. This past weekend I ran my Shetland Sheepdog Taliesin in an AKC Canine Agility Trial in Mt. Vernon, WA, and we did very well, qualifying in 7 runs out of 15 and getting various colored placement ribbons. I was feeling quite sharp, and I even invented a new dog-handling technique that fixed an ongoing problem we were having.
Next week we will do the blood-work again, and I'll report any changes.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6197652/
The original study bring forward some ideas. The reserchers show that curcumin is one of the few substances (besides fisetin) that have a proven but smaller senolytic effect. I can only speculate if curcumin, in combination with fisetin, Bioperine and quercetin, could bring some extra benefit. Maybe curcumin can complement fisetin by penetrating tissues where fisetin is less effective? This is a very speculative question but I will test it.
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The F + Q + C (at approx. 1 gm each, in oil) + black pepper (approx. 1/2 tsp) seemed to be a little extreme for me, possibly because of the 50% increase of the quantity of senolytics taken with the addition of the 1 gm of curcumin. Lots of aches and pains for up to 2 weeks and taking longer to return to normal than the first time last month with just F + Q + black pepper. I also noticed lack of healing for a couple of small issues during the protocol. I wouldn't want to do this again for perhaps 6 months. I feel I got very good absorption and duration doing it this way. Joints seem good and there is a definite reduction of spider veins. Who knows if the benefits are deeper than that, time will tell...
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When doing Fisetin and Quercetin senolytic doses consider dissolving the powders in oil before taking. You could try with or without black pepper or piperine, etc. to see if that makes a difference. F + Q are not water soluble and I think dissolving them in oil increases their uptake massively. I don't think one absorbs much of the F + Q without dissolving it in oil.
For daily supplementation, you might be fine just taking a pill without the oil.
Piperine is supposed to increase absorption massively (2,000% for Curcumin) and keep the liver from quickly metabolizing them. F + Q + Curcumin are all substances that are affected by piperine according to my reading.
My advice is not to massively increase the dosages of these substances if you are going to use these mechanisms to increase their absorption and action. I used only 1 gram of each for 3 days, seeing definite effects. (Weight of approx. 77kg) I saw more effect when adding the Curcumin to the F + Q.
Mechanism of piperine action:
"In general, it inhibits drug metabolizing enzymes, stimulates absorption by stimulating gut amino acid transporters, inhibits the cell pump responsible for drug elimination from cells and inhibits intestinal production of glucuronic acid.
It may increase the absorption of drug in the GIT, or inhibit enzymes responsible for drug metabolism, especially in the liver when the drug passes through the liver after absorption from GIT. Oral administration of piperine in rats strongly inhibited the hepatic arylhydrocarbon hydroxylase and UDP-glucuronyltransferase activities[30].
Another study demonstrates that piperine modifies the rate of glucuronidation by lowering the endogenous UDP-glucuronic acid content and also by inhibiting the transferase activity[31].
Piperine inhibits human P-glycoprotein and cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4)[32]. Both the proteins contribute to a major extent to first-pass elimination of many drugs.
Some of the metabolizing enzymes inhibited or induced by piperine include CYP1A1, CYP1B1, CYP1B2, CYP2E1, CYP3A4 etc. Most of the drugs metabolized by these enzymes will therefore be influenced by bioenhancers."