Longevity factor klotho enhances cognition in aged nonhuman primates | Nature Aging

Cognitive dysfunction in aging is a major biomedical challenge. Whether treatment with klotho, a longevity factor, could enhance cognition in human-relevant models such as in nonhuman primates is unknown and represents a major knowledge gap in the path to therapeutics. We validated the rhesus form of the klotho protein in mice showing it increased synaptic plasticity and cognition. We then found that a single administration of low-dose, but not high-dose, klotho enhanced memory in aged nonhuman primates. Systemic low-dose klotho treatment may prove therapeutic in aging humans. Cognitive dysfunction in aging is a major biomedical challenge without medical therapies. Here, Castner et al. show that longevity factor klotho enhances cognition in aged nonhuman primates, increasing its relevance for a therapeutic path to humans.