Top 5 Advances For 2009 - Anti-Aging Research

Top 5 Advances For 2009 - Anti-Aging Research

2009 has been a great year for advances in aging research. Television, newspapers and websites have covered stories on calorie restriction, resveratrol and rapamycin. Leading biologists working in longevity research are finally grabbing the attention of other scientists (this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine is a very real example of this), the media and the general public. Here are my TOP 5 Picks for significant breakthroughs of the year. You might want to consider these as you sip your red wine this season. TOP 5 ANTI-AGING PICKS FOR 2009:
Rapamycin - for the first time a drug was shown to extend the healthy life of mice. Late onset rejuvenation holds great promise for humans. Dave Sharp originated the idea to test rapamycin and the National Institute on Aging Intervention Testing Program conducted the trials which began when the mice were about 600 days old, equivalent to 60 year old humans. Rapamycin delayed the deaths of the longest-lived male mice by 101 days and the longest-lived female mice by 151 days. That is similar to 13 human years!
ITP generally selects studies based on treatments that are easily obtainable, reasonably priced and delivered in the food of the mice. The research is conducted in three labs, chosen by ITP, to conduct the tests with mice: University of Michigan, Jackson Laboratories in Maine and University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio - the same University where Dave Sharp is based. It was this Program that took Dave's ideas from concept to reality with efficiency and credibility. Dave mentioned his idea to Randy Strong, the head of the lab at San Antonio and Randy liked it. He encouraged Dave to put in a proposal for testing. It was approved in 2005.
Organovo - 3D tissue printing. Dr. Gabor Forgacs, University of Missouri, leads the team that is developing blood vessels and, ultimately, organs. Regenerative medicine is fascinating and promising, holding the promise of replacing the current organ donor system and eliminating the need for donor transplants.
The results were beyond anything they could have hoped for. Rapamycin delayed the deaths of the longest-lived male mice by 101 days and the longest-lived female mice by 151 days. That is similar to 13 human years! Or, when you take into account the average remaining lifespan when the treatment began, it is an increase of 38% in female mice and 28% in males. How rapamycin works remains unclear. It may impact cellular efficiency with the result of delaying aging and preserving good health. The results do not show that the drug prevented any single disease, the mice died of various causes, but they do show that aging was slowed. The mice remained healthy and cancer free longer than any normal life expectancy.
Intervention Testing Program tests have been conducted with aspirin, green tea extract and other interventions. The results with rapamycin are the first major breakthrough from an ITP study, with strong results in rejuvenation and extended lifespan in both male and female mice. It remains to be seen what impact this will have for humans but the very idea that a drug - an immunosuppressant used for transplant patients, discovered in Easter Island soil samples about 40 years ago - might give us all a longer, healthier life is good news!