A recent study has found that a selected cancer drug has the flexibility to increase life span. The finding is a shot within the arm for the scientists racing against time.
The study, published within the journal Nature Aging, showed that long-term treatment of healthy mice from middle age (one yr) with a cancer medication can increase their lifespan by a median of 10% — roughly around three years.
Within the study, led by researchers from the University of Auckland, the mice were divided into two groups. Each the groups were fed the identical eating regimen, with the addition of a drug called alpelisib within the test group’s meal. The mice that were fed the drug-containing eating regimen lived longer, and in addition showed improved coordination and strength in old age, the study found.
“Aging isn’t only about lifespan but in addition in regards to the quality of life,” research fellow Dr. Chris Hedges said, as per MedicalXpress. “Due to this fact, we were pleased to see this drug treatment not only increased the longevity of the mice but in addition showed many signs of healthier aging. We’re working now to grasp how this happens.”
Nonetheless, the researchers warned against making an excessive amount of out of the outcomes. It’s to be noted that the mice treated with the drug also exhibited a couple of negative markers of aging, like lower bone mass.
“We will not be suggesting that anyone should exit and take this drug long-term to increase lifespan, as there are some unintended effects. Nonetheless, this work identifies mechanisms crucial to aging that might be of use in our long-term efforts to extend lifespan and health span,” principal investigator Associate Professor Troy Merry explained.
“It also suggests quite a few possible ways wherein shorter-term treatments with this drug may very well be used to treat certain metabolic health conditions and we’re following this up now,” Merry added.
The drug alpelisib targets an enzyme called PI 3-kinase. In keeping with Professor Peter Shepherd, they’ve been working on developing drugs to focus on PI 3-kinase for greater than 20 years. This is especially because many cancers have been seen to make use of an excessive activation of this pathway.
“Due to this fact, it’s great to see that these drugs may need uses in other areas and reveal novel mechanisms contributing to age-related diseases. It also shows the worth of a long-term investment in research in areas equivalent to this,” Shepherd said, as per the outlet.
One other recent study has found that an important choice to reverse aging is to zap “zombie” cells with ultrasound waves. Having successfully experimented on older mice, researchers at the moment are planning a clinical trial to ascertain the security and efficacy of the technique in humans. “‘Is that this too good to be true?’ is the query I often ask. We’re examining all points of it to see if it really does work,” lead writer Professor Michael Sheetz from the University of Texas said.