Hidden blood molecules show surprising anti-aging power
- Date:
- November 29, 2025
- Source:
- American Chemical Society
- Summary:
- Scientists have identified new anti-aging compounds produced by a little-studied blood bacterium. These indole metabolites were able to reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, and collagen-damaging activity in skin cell cultures. Three of the compounds, including two never seen before, showed particularly strong effects. The findings hint at a surprising new source for future skin-rejuvenation therapies.
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People invest significant time and effort into keeping their skin looking young through masks, creams and serums. Researchers have now identified naturally produced molecules with anti-aging potential that originate within the body itself. These three compounds come from a blood-dwelling bacterium and were shown to reduce both cellular damage and inflammation in laboratory-grown human skin cells. The results, reported in the Journal of Natural Products by the American Chemical Society and the American Society of Pharmacognosy, suggest a promising direction for future skin-aging treatments.
Scientists still have limited understanding of how bacterial by-products (called metabolites) circulating in the bloodstream influence human health. One group of metabolites, known as indole compounds, has attracted special interest because of their anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. In 2015, researchers discovered a blood bacterium capable of producing these compounds and named it Paracoccus sanguinis. Chung Sub Kim, Sullim Lee and their team wanted to learn more about P. sanguinis and focused their study on its indole-functionalized metabolites.
"We became interested in P. sanguinis because blood-derived microbes are a relatively uncharted area of research," says Kim. "Given the unique environment of the bloodstream, we believed that studying individual species like P. sanguinis could reveal previously unknown metabolic function relevant to health and disease."
Identifying New Compounds
To explore this idea, the team cultured a large quantity of P. sanguinis for three days and then extracted the full mixture of metabolites produced by the microbe. They used several analytical tools, including spectrometry, isotope labeling and computational approaches, to determine the chemical structures of 12 distinct indole metabolites within the mixture. Six of these had never been documented before.
Kim, Lee and their colleagues then examined whether the indole compounds could limit processes linked to skin aging. They added liquid solutions containing each metabolite to cultured human skin cells. Before treatment, the cells had been exposed to conditions that increased reactive oxygen species, which are molecules known to trigger inflammation and damage collagen.
Among the 12 indoles tested, three of them, including two newly identified ones, reduced the levels of reactive oxygen species in these stressed skin cells compared with untreated samples. These same metabolites also lowered the amounts of two inflammatory proteins and a protein involved in collagen degradation.
Potential Pathway for New Skin Treatments
Based on these early results, the researchers note that the newly characterized indole metabolites could one day form the basis for therapies that help counter the effects of aging on the skin.
The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation of Korea, the BK21 FOUR Project, and the National Supercomputing Center.
Story Source:
Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Won Min Lee, Si-Young Ahn, Gyu Sung Lee, InWha Park, Jonghwan Kim, Seung Hwan Lee, Sullim Lee, Chung Sub Kim. Discovery and Biosynthesis of Indole-Functionalized Metabolites from the Human Blood Bacterium, Paracoccus sanguinis, and Their Anti-Skin Aging Activity. Journal of Natural Products, 2025; 88 (5): 1120 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c01354
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