Researchers have discovered a drug that prolongs the lives of lab animals by nearly 25 percent. It was found that the so-called “supermodel granny” drug had astounding results in mice, thus giving scientists hope that this same effect can be replicated in human beings.
A team from the MRC Laboratory of Medical Science at Imperial College London and Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore worked on a protein called interleukin-11. With age, its level increases, promoting inflammation and thereby accelerating aging. The team managed to tinker with the biological switches of aging by targeting interleukin-11.
That is to say, the researchers genetically altered mice so that they could not produce interleukin-11, or they gave a drug that purged the protein from their bodies at the age equivalents of a 55-year-old human. Results were striking, published in Nature: lifespans increased by 20-25%, and the treated mice hosted fewer cancers, had improved muscle function, leaner bodies, healthier fur, and better scores on frailty measures.
One of the researchers working on this study, Professor Stuart Cook, says with cautious optimism: “I try not to get too excited, for the reasons you say, is it too good to be true?” he said. “There’s lots of snake oil out there, so I try to stick to the data and they are the strongest out there.” He believes that if the drug works in humans, its impact “would be transformative” He’s even willing to take it himself.
There are still serious questions, though. Can this effect be reproduced in the human body with side effects tolerable? Interleukin-11 seems to be involved in the fusion of skull bones and joints and teeth eruption during development, but to promotes the aging process later in life. The researchers are testing the drug—a manufactured antibody designed to attack interleukin-11—in patients with lung fibrosis, a scarring of the lungs that makes it hard to breathe. Although these trials haven’t been completed yet, preliminary data suggests the drug is safe.
It’s part of a broader research race to “treat” aging with drugs. Other compounds in the running include the type-2 diabetes drug metformin and rapamycin, which is used to prevent organ transplant rejection. A drug-based approach is more realistic for most people than severe calorie restriction, said Professor Cook. “Would you want to live from the age of 40, half-starved, have a completely unpleasant life, if you’re going to live another five years at the end? I wouldn’t,” he said.
This promising research in the continuing quest for longer and healthier lives allows a glimpse into a future where this feared process of aging could be slowed down, if not stopped.