A team of researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Science, Imperial College London, and Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore have discovered a possible drug that can increase lifespan by 20–25% after conducting an experiment in mice.
In preclinical research, the group discovered that as people aged, their organs released higher amounts of the interleukin-11 (IL-11) protein, which encouraged the build-up of fat in the liver and belly and decreased muscle mass and strength two characteristics that are significant in the aging in humans.
Professor Stuart Cook and his associates tested this theory by injecting 37 mice with a medication that blocks interleukin-11 (IL-11) using antibodies. Beginning at 75 weeks of age, which is comparable to around 55 years old in human years, the mice received an injection every three weeks until their deaths. Researchers administered an alternative antibody treatment that did not target IL-11 to a group of 38 mice.
According to the research, male, and female mice’s lifespans were increased by more than 20% when IL-11 was blocked. In other studies, it was shown that mice receiving anti-IL-11 medication had a lower risk of developing cancer: fewer than 16 percent of treated rats had tumors, compared to more than 60 percent of the control group.
As these medications are being studied for their anti-aging qualities, Prof. Cook argues that they would be simpler for patients to manage aging than calorie restriction. These medications are used to prevent organ transplant rejection and include metformin and rapamycin.
Prof. Anissa Widjaja of Duke-NUS Medical School emphasized the research’s importance in human health. The findings could contribute to healthy aging, given their comparable effects in studies of human cells and tissues.
Professor Ilaria Bellantuono of the University of Sheffield, who specializes in musculoskeletal aging, stated: “Overall, the data seems solid; this is another potential therapy that targets an aging mechanism, which may benefit frailty.”
Source: BBC
