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Medical News Today
2 hours ago
- Health
- Medical News Today
Rapamycin may extend lifespan as effectively as dietary restrictions
Research is ongoing about potential strategies to prolong life. A meta-analysis found that the drug rapamycin prolongs life in several vertebrate appeared to prolong life at a level similar to dietary restrictions. How to prolong life is a key area of scientific research. Experts are interested in medications that have the potential to boost longevity.A recent meta-analysis published in Aging Cell explored how rapamycin and metformin influenced longevity among several results confirmed that dietary restriction appears to prolong life and that rapamycin offers similar benefits. Researchers also found that metformin did not seem to prolong life. More research is required to see how rapamycin might help boost longevity in people. Rapamycin: Does it increase lifespan?In this paper, researchers note that decreasing food intake without malnourishment appears to prolong life but that this strategy is difficult for people to stick to. Thus, looking into possible medications that produce similar effects is an area of research. The two medications that were the focus of this analysis were rapamycin and metformin. According to the National Cancer Institute, rapamycin has a few functions, such as being an immunosuppressant and antibiotic, and it can help people who get helps with type 2 diabetes management. This analysis involved a systematic literature search to find relevant data. The final analysis included data from 167 papers looking at eight total vertebrate species, seeking to see how both medications affected longevity and how they compared to dietary extracted information on average and median lifespan from the papers. For this analysis, the two types of dietary restriction were caloric reduction and fasting, and researchers also sought to see if the results differed based on the sex of the animals involved. The data came from animals like mice, rats, turquoise killifish, and rhesus macaques. Overall, there were more males studied than females. There was also the most data on dietary restriction, and the most common type of dietary restriction was decreasing the number of calories. Regarding dietary restriction, the findings suggested great variation regarding the effects. Overall, researchers found that dietary restriction and rapamycin had a similar impact and appeared to contribute to prolonged life. Metformin appeared to only have a minimal impact on life from one metformin model, there appeared to be no consistent differences between male and female animals regarding longevity. Study author Zahida Sultanova, PhD, a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow with the University of East Anglia, in the United Kingdom summarized the key findings of the study to Medical News Today: 'We checked whether the two best-known 'diet-mimic' drugs increase lifespan similar to eating less in animals. By pooling data from 167 studies, we found that rapamycin is almost as reliable as eating less for increasing lifespan, whereas metformin is not. In other words, a compound that was extracted from soil bacteria 50 years ago seems able to copy many of the biological effects of a permanent diet, at least in lab animals.'Do the same benefits apply to people?This research analyzed animal data but did not include data about people. Additionally, most of these studies involved these animals in a laboratory setting and only looked at a small number of meta-analysis was also the work of only three researchers, sometimes with only one researcher doing a component of the work, which could have impacted the had the least amount of data on metformin, so more research about this medication might be helpful. They also operated under the assumption that if a paper did not specify male or female subjects, it was a mixed group, which could have been incorrect. The authors further note that the 'results were sensitive to how lifespan was reported.' Researchers also acknowledge strong publication bias and a lot of heterogeneity. Additionally, the type of measure used in study reporting affected results. In one measurement, the impact on life extension disappeared for the most part, the authors did not find a consistent difference in results based on the sex of the animals. They explain this could be because of 'differences in taxonomic groups studied […] and the calculated effect size.' Sultanova noted the following cautions regarding the findings: 'This study includes a high number of scientific studies conducted on different organisms such as mice, fish and monkeys. However, survival results in humans are not included because these drugs were not tested in humans for lifespan extension. Even if they are, the studies will take a long time considering the length of human lifespan. So, we do not recommend people to take rapamycin before the results of human trials consistently show that there are no side effects.'Why is it hard to study rapamycin in humans?Researchers suggest the need for research involving other species in natural and laboratory settings. They also note the need to understand the difference in impact for 'different strains of the same species exposed to the same treatment.'Future research can further focus on the differences between rapamycin and metformin and why they impact lifespan differently. More research into the differences in rapamycin's results in males and females could be helpful as well. More research can be done to see if rapamycin can promote prolonged life in people, but there may be some challenges in this Ali, MD, a board-certified general surgeon, bariatric surgeon, and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, who was not involved in the study, told MNT that it 'shows the contribution of the immune system to lifespan, as rapamycin is an immunosuppressive medication.'According to him: 'The most logical next step is to explore the findings in humans; however, this would be a difficult study to design as rapamycin is a medication used in specific cancers and organ transplant and has significant side effects.'Despite this, the results show a potential benefit of rapamycin that warrants more explained that: 'Clinically, that puts rapamycin (and the mTOR pathway it targets) at the front of the queue for future anti-ageing therapies in humans. The compound had already been used for organ-transplant patients, so medical professionals understand its potential side effects.''The next step is waiting for the results of ongoing human trials that test lower and intermittent doses of rapamycin and refining the compound to 'rapalog' versions that keep the benefits while omitting side-effects such as immune suppression,' she told us.'Another important next step would be developing drugs that are similar in structure and function to rapamycin but without the side-effects. Scientists have already started refining rapamycin and producing the so-called rapalogs,' Sultanova noted.
Mint
2 days ago
- Health
- Mint
Do longevity drugs work?
As elixirs of life go, long-term fasting is a surprising candidate. Yet it seems to work. Experiments on species from nematode worms to rhesus monkeys show that near-starvation prolongs lifespan. And, though no long-term experiment has been conducted to prove the same is true in Homo sapiens, short-term ones suggest similar physiological changes happen. Mysteriously, however, most people are loth to trade three square meals a day in the here and now for the promise of a longer retirement, so the search has been on for chemical alternatives to fasting. Two molecules in particular have attracted attention: rapamycin, an immunosuppressant used to stop the rejection of transplanted kidneys, and metformin, an anti-diabetes drug. June 19th saw the publication of a paper summarising the evidence of their effectiveness in animals, compared with fasting. Both rapamycin and metformin have drawn the attention of the 'live for ever" brigade because they inhibit what is known as the mTOR pathway (indeed, mTOR stands for 'mechanistic target of rapamycin"). Overactivation of this in old age is associated with hallmarks of ageing such as inflammation. Conversely, fasting suppresses mTOR activity. That promotes autophagy, a phenomenon in which cells clear out their accumulated crud, which is reckoned lifespan-enhancing. Moreover, both substances also have the advantages of having undergone safety trials as part of approval for their on-label uses, and of being off-patent, and therefore cheap. Being off-patent, however, cuts both ways. It means commercial sponsors for human clinical trials are hard to find, since they cannot monopolise sales. As a result the Targeting Ageing with Metformin (TAME) trial, a proposal sponsored by the American Federation for Aging Research, a charity, and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2015, remains in abeyance for lack of funds. Rapamycin, by contrast, has been tested in what is known as the PEARL (Participatory Evaluation of Ageing with Rapamycin for Longevity) trial, which began in July 2020. But this found no strong evidence that it worked. Animal tests have proved more definitive. The new paper, published in Aging Cell by Edward Ivimey-Cook of Glasgow University and his colleagues, gathers all the vertebrate-trial evidence that the authors could find. This amounts to 167 studies on eight species, ranging from fish to monkeys. The answers seem clear-cut. To no one's surprise, calorie restriction works. So, to a pretty-much equal extent, does rapamycin. But metformin does not. That is a blow to those, their number unknown but probably amounting to thousands, who have twisted their doctors' arms to get an off-label prescription of it for life extension. But it is a boost to those who have opted for rapamycin. These include Vinod Khosla, one of Silicon Valley's best-known venture capitalists, and, until recently, Bryan Johnson, another Californian techie, who has made a second career out of his quest for immortality. Mr Johnson, however, dropped rapamycin in 2024 because of its side-effects (abnormal lipid and glucose levels, elevated heart rate and increased risk of skin infection). All of which is interesting. But for mere mortals who want a long and healthy life without the risk of rapamycin's side-effects the advice remains the same: eat wisely, drink moderately, exercise regularly, sleep well. And stub that cigarette out. Curious about the world? To enjoy our mind-expanding science coverage, sign up to Simply Science, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter. © 2025, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on
The Hindu
10-06-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Scientists uncover molecular clue to slow down reproductive aging
Researchers at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) have made a significant discovery that could pave the way for new strategies to extend female fertility. Led by Prasad Rao from NIAB's Laboratory of Molecular Reproduction and Aging, the team has uncovered a molecular clue that appears to slow down reproductive aging. The scientific team, using both live mouse models and cultured goat ovaries, found that reducing the activity of a cellular protein called 'Cathepsin B' (Cat B) helps preserve the ovarian reserve. This ovarian reserve is the finite pool of egg cells (oocytes) that female mammals are born with. Unlike sperm, these crucial egg cells cannot be regenerated. The findings are important since, unlike sperm, oocytes cannot be regenerated. 'Over time, the quantity and quality of these eggs naturally decline due to factors like oxidative stress, inflammation and general cellular wear. This process accelerates with age. 'Cat B,' a protein-degrading enzyme, seems to be a key driver of this decline. By lowering its levels, we may be able to delay egg loss, effectively extending fertility naturally,' said The scientist team, which includes Aradhana Mohanty, Anjali Kumari, Lava Kumar S., Ajith Kumar, Pravin Birajdar, Rohit Beniwal, Mohd Athar and Kiran Kumar P., pointed out that the implications go far beyond the laboratory. It is because across India's rural heartlands and urban hospitals, fertility is quietly becoming a shared crisis. As both livestock and women age, their ability to reproduce declines, with significant biological and economic consequences, said researchers. In humans, fertility begins to decline in the early 30s, with a sharper drop in the 40s, reducing chances of conception and increasing the risk of miscarriage or chromosomal disorders. While assisted reproductive technologies like IVF provide options, they are often costly, invasive and less effective in older women. A safe, biological method to slow ovarian ageing could revolutionise fertility preservation for millions. For farmers, a simple intervention to extend reproductive lifespan of livestock could improve herd productivity, reduce stray cattle populations, and support the incomes of smallholder farmers who form the backbone of Indian agriculture. This is a rare moment where science serves both the farm and the family. From barns to birthing rooms, this discovery bridges animal science and human medicine, promising a future where age is no longer a barrier to reproduction, said researchers. For a country navigating the twin challenges of rural sustainability and reproductive health, the implications are profound and hopeful, said NIAB director G. Taru Sharma. The research results were published in the latest issue of 'Aging Cell'.
