Many Men Lose Y Chromosomes as They Age. Now We May Know Why It's So Deadly

There are errors in the human genome. Small mistakes in our genes can accumulate over time to create a mosaic of cells with different codes throughout the body. Some cells can lose their entire chromosomes.

White blood cells are missing their Y chromosomes. Roughly 40 percent of men over the age of 70 are affected by mLOY.

There are serious health consequences if you don't have a Y chromosomes.

mLOY has been associated with shorter lifespans and a higher risk of age-related diseases. A new study shows that the condition could be linked to impaired heart function.

Losing the Y chromosomes from blood cells can lead to organ damage and disease in other parts of the body, and increase the risk of age related diseases.

The team of researchers led by Soichi Sano of Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan have shown how mLOY causes tissue damage that leads to heart failure in mice.

The researchers used the famed gene-editing tool CRISPR to engineer mice with no Y chromosomes in their white blood cells to mimic the human condition.

The shortened lives of the mice were due to the increased stiffening of the heart, a condition called cardiac fibrosis, which is linked to heart failure.

The decline in heart function is caused by mLOY in mice.

The UK Biobank is a decades-long study that has captured genetic and health information of half a million typically aging adults.

They found men with mLOY in their blood had an increased risk of dying from heart failure and other types of cardiovascular disease.

The results from the mouse model suggest that mLOY has a direct effect on humans.

More research is needed before we can figure out the consequences of mLOY. It is not the only cause of age-related diseases which are linked to a plethora of cellular processes going awry and a host of genetic changes that have accumulated over time.

"Y-chromosome loss is a symptom of broader genome instability, after publishing work showing why some are more prone to it than others." Instability is a hallmark of cancer and indicates that the DNA has been accumulating errors faster than the cells can repair them.

Cancer and Alzheimer's are thought to be caused by chronic inflammation. There is more work to be done to untangle the interplay between inflammation and fibrosis.

Forsberg and colleagues returned to the mouse models for one last hoorah and found a possible treatment to counteract the effects of mLOY. The researchers noticed that the fibrotic changes in the mice were partially reversed after blocking the signaling pathway.

Given the new treatment strategies for heart failure, pulmonary fibrosis and certain cancers that aim to counteract the onset of fibrosis, the link between mLOY and Fibrosis is very interesting.

Although a potential therapy to counteract losing the Y chromosomes in blood cells is still a long off, men with mLOY could be a patient group that responds well to such treatment.

Research shows that men who smoke are more likely to have a loss of the Y chromosomes in their blood cells than non-smoking men.

The study was published in a scientific journal.