Scientists discover drug cocktail that could increase lifespan

Scientists have discovered a combination of drugs that increases the healthy lifespan of worms and fruit flies, which they believe could help humans live longer and healthier lives.

The study, published in the journal Developmental cell, lays a crucial foundation for further research into the design of drug combinations that produce the same effect in mammals.

"Many countries around the world, including Singapore, face problems related to the aging of the population, "said Jan Gruber of Yale-NUS College in Singapore.

"If we can find a way to prolong the healthy life span and delay the aging of the population, we will be able to counter the negative effects of an aging population by offering countries not only medical and economic benefits, but also a better quality of life for their populations, "Gruber said.

The team wanted to know to what extent a healthy life span could be extended by combining drugs targeting multiple pathways affecting life span.

For example, the drug rapamycin is currently administered after an organ transplant to prevent the immune system from rejecting the transplanted organs.

However, previous experiments have shown that it prolongs the lifespan of many organisms, including worms, fruit flies, and mice of Caenorhabditis elegans (C elegans).

The researchers administered combinations of two or three compounds targeting different aging pathways of C. elegans.

The results showed that two pairs of drugs in particular prolonged the average lifespan of worms more than each of the individual drugs, and in combination with a third compound, the average lifespan was almost doubled.

This effect is more important than any previously reported life extension for any drug intervention in the adult animal, the researchers said.

Drug treatments had no negative effect on worm health. Researchers also found that, regardless of age, treated worms were healthier and spent a greater percentage of their already extended lives on good health.

This is an important point for potential future interventions on human aging, as increased life expectancy, and not just increased shelf life, would have significant medical and economic benefits, researchers said.

"We would benefit not only in prolonging our lives, but also in spending more time without age-related diseases, such as arthritis, heart diseasecancer or Alzheimer's disease, "said Gruber.

"These diseases currently require very expensive treatments, so the economic benefits of being healthier longer would be enormous," he said.

Gruber's lab also collaborated with Associate Professor Yale-NUS, Nicholas Tolwinski, and revealed that a fruit fly species (Drosophila melanogaster) treated with a similar drug cocktail also known a significant extension of the service life.

Extending the lifespan of two of these evolutionarily distinct organisms suggests that the biological mechanisms that regulate these drug interactions are old, making it more likely to target similar interactions between pathways. of aging in humans, the researchers said.

According to Gruber, this study is proof of principle, demonstrating that a pharmacological intervention targeting several aging pathways is a promising strategy for slowing down aging and significantly extending the healthy life span in adult animals.