ABC’s Carolyn Herbert claims previous research has shown that once ingested, aspirin breaks down into salicylate, a compound derived from plants such as willow bark, and used as a drug for thousands of years.
Ancient Egyptians recorded the medicinal use of willow bark in their manuscripts.
In the 1890s, aspirin was created by developing a modified form of salicylate, a salt of salicylic acid, to reduce stomach irritation. Current research indicates that salicylate triggers a molecular pathway that leads to pain relief.
A research team led by Professor Grahame Hardie, a cell biologist at the University of Dundee in Scotland, has determined how salicylate affects metabolism. Their findings were published in the journal Science.
They found that mice with the AMPK enzyme were able to burn fat at a faster rate than the control group, and concluded salicylate activates AMPK, which increases the breakdown of fat.
“It’s exciting that we’ve discovered salicylates are working in a new and different way to what we originally thought,” says Hardie.
Information from the report’s Abstract:
“Salicylate, a plant product, has been in medicinal use since ancient times. More recently, it has been replaced by synthetic derivatives such as aspirin and salsalate, both rapidly broken down to salicylate in vivo. At concentrations reached in plasma following administration of salsalate, or aspirin at high doses, salicylate activates adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a central regulator of cell growth and metabolism.
“Salicylate binds at the same site as the synthetic activator, A-769662, to cause allosteric activation and inhibition of dephosphorylation of the activating phosphorylation site, Thr172. In AMPK knockout mice, effects of salicylate to increase fat utilization and lower plasma fatty acids in vivo were lost. Our results suggest that AMPK activation could explain some beneficial effects of salsalate and aspirin in humans.”
According to Hardie, recent studies have shown that people who take aspirin over long time periods appear to have a lower incidence of cancer. “I’m particularly interested in these protective effects against cancer,” says Hardie.
“Further research may help us discover another way of taking salicylate, other than aspirin, which has fewer side-effects.”
Hardie explains that anti-cancer effects may be due to the activity of AMPK, as diabetic drugs that target AMPK in cells are also associated with a reduced incidence of cancer.