{"id":4273,"date":"2013-05-27T02:26:53","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T02:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/drug-to-prolong-life-being-tested-in-mice\/"},"modified":"2013-05-27T02:26:53","modified_gmt":"2013-05-27T02:26:53","slug":"drug-to-prolong-life-being-tested-in-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/drug-to-prolong-life-being-tested-in-mice\/","title":{"rendered":"Drug to prolong life being tested in mice"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The first drug to suc\u00adcess\u00adfully ex\u00adtend the life\u00adspan of nor\u00admal lab mice al\u00adso does so in a way that pro\u00adlongs their healthy ex\u00adist\u00adence, ac\u00adcord\u00ading to a new stu\u00addy.<\/p>\n

Re\u00adsearch\u00aders hope the drug, ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin, may al\u00adso serve to pro\u00adlong life and ward off aging-related dis\u00adeases in people, especially as it\u2019s al\u00adready tested and ap\u00adproved for an\u00adother hu\u00adman use: to pre\u00advent trans\u00adplant re\u00adjec\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

But obstacles remain before any hu\u00adman use of ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin as a longevity boost\u00ader. It\u2019s un\u00adclear what dosages and reg\u00adi\u00admens might be required for such a pur\u00adpose. Con\u00adcerns about side ef\u00adfects linger. And mouse stud\u00adies have used a spe\u00adcial encap\u00adsula\u00adtion method that\u2019s not cur\u00adrent\u00adly used in human con\u00adsump\u00adtion of the drug.<\/p>\n

A biotech firm has sprung up in San An\u00adto\u00adnio, Tex\u00adas in hopes of ex\u00adploit\u00ading new com\u00admer\u00adcial pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties for ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin, and its of\u00adfi\u00adcials have said that clin\u00adi\u00adcal tri\u00adals are ex\u00adpected soon.<\/p>\n

In the new stu\u00addy, mice were fed ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin as part of their di\u00adet start\u00ading when they were 19 months\u2014the equiv\u00ada\u00adlent of about 60 hu\u00adman years\u2014old. The meas\u00adured life\u00adspan in\u00adcreases were more mod\u00adest than in some pre\u00advi\u00adous stud\u00adies. Com\u00adpared to un\u00adtreated mice, the life\u00adspan of the treated ro\u00addents went up by about 3 per\u00adcent on av\u00ader\u00adage, al\u00adthough the dif\u00adfer\u00adence rose to 7 per\u00adcent for mice who made it to old\u00ader ages to beg\u00adin with. <\/p>\n

\"Jiroemen <\/p>\n

Jiroemen Kimura: world’s oldest man. AFP Photo<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Pre\u00advi\u00adous stud\u00adies had yielded more dra\u00admat\u00adic re\u00adsults.<\/p>\n

A study in the July 2009 is\u00adsue of Na\u00adture, us\u00ading a si\u00adm\u00adi\u00adlar meth\u00adod\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy but dif\u00adfer\u00adent mouse strains, had found in\u00adcreases as high as about 10.5 per\u00adcent for old\u00ader mice on ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin com\u00adpared to un\u00adtreated. An\u00adoth\u00ader piece of re\u00adsearch found that if treat\u00adment was started when the mice were about half as old, then the av\u00ader\u00adage sur\u00adviv\u00adal in\u00adcrease jumped to about 14 per\u00adcent. That study ap\u00adpeared in the Feb\u00adru\u00adary 2011 is\u00adsue of The Jour\u00adnals of Ger\u00adon\u00adtol\u00ado\u00adgy: Bi\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Sci\u00adences.<\/p>\n

The new stu\u00addy, in the May 16 on\u00adline edi\u00adtion of the same jour\u00adnal, fo\u00adcused on the health ef\u00adfects in ad\u00addi\u00adtion to the life\u00adspan ef\u00adfects. \u201cWhether the life-ex\u00adtending ef\u00adfects of ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin treat\u00adment are re\u00adflected in ex\u00adtended health has not yet been ex\u00adten\u00adsively in\u00adves\u00adti\u00adgat\u00aded,\u201d wrote the au\u00adthors, re\u00adsearch\u00aders with the Uni\u00advers\u00adity of Tex\u00adas Health Sci\u00adence Cen\u00adter at San An\u00adto\u00adnio.<\/p>\n

The au\u00adthors in\u00adclud\u00aded scientists who have li\u00adcensed ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin-related tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies to the biotech company, Ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin Hold\u00adings Inc.<\/p>\n

They al\u00adso wrote that they in\u00adves\u00adt\u00adi\u00adgated the health ef\u00adfects in great\u00ader de\u00adtail be\u00adcause \u201cin\u00adcreas\u00ading life span with\u00adout sim\u00adul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adously in\u00adcreas\u00ading health span is a fool\u2019s er\u00adrand.\u201d They found that treat\u00aded mice enjoyed health ben\u00ade\u00adfits in\u00adclud\u00ading in\u00adcreased stride length and bet\u00adter re\u00adsults on a test of en\u00addur\u00adance.<\/p>\n

Rapamycin\u2019s lifespan bene\u00adfits to mice have tended to be greater for fe\u00admales, which received life\u00adspan boosts up to 80 per\u00adcent greater than the males depending on the stu\u00addy.<\/p>\n

The in\u00adves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtors in the new study used ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin that had been \u201cmi\u00adcro\u00aden\u00adcap\u00adsu\u00adlated\u201d by a spe\u00adcial meth\u00adod in or\u00adder to re\u00adsist de\u00adgrada\u00adt\u00adion when mixed with the ro\u00addent chow. This is\u00adn\u2019t the same way ra\u00adpa\u00admy\u00adcin, a pre\u00adscrip\u00adtion drug, is nor\u00admally tak\u00aden in hu\u00adman clin\u00adi\u00adcal use, al\u00adthough it is tak\u00aden oral\u00adly.<\/p>\n

Ra\u00adpamycin is thought to ex\u00adert its ef\u00adfects on life\u00adspan by sup\u00adpressing the ac\u00adti\u00advity of a chem\u00adi\u00adcal path\u00adway in the body known as mTOR, which helps to gov\u00adern growth and sur\u00adviv\u00adal re\u00adsponses in cells.<\/p>\n

Ra\u00adpamycin al\u00adso helps pre\u00advent trans\u00adplant re\u00adjec\u00adtion by blocking cer\u00adtain im\u00admune sys\u00adtem cells, lead\u00ading to con\u00adcerns of harm\u00adful im\u00admune-sup\u00adpressing side ef\u00adfects. But these have not proved prob\u00adle\u00admatic in the mouse stud\u00adies, ac\u00adcord\u00ading to scien\u00adtists.<\/p>\n

Very few sub\u00adstances have been found to re\u00adliably pro\u00adlong life\u00adspan in lab an\u00adi\u00admals. Be\u00adfore ra\u00adpamycin, the one con\u00adsid\u00adered per\u00adhaps most prom\u00adis\u00ading was res\u00adver\u00ada\u00adtrol, found to ex\u00adtend life\u00adspan in round\u00adworms, yeast and cer\u00adtain fish. But such ben\u00ade\u00adfits in lab mice, seen as an im\u00adpor\u00adtant stepping-stone to\u00adward hu\u00adman stud\u00adies, were re\u00adported only for mice that were obese.<\/p>\n

Ra\u00adpamycin is so named be\u00adcause it was dis\u00adcov\u00adered com\u00ading from soil bac\u00adte\u00adria at East\u00ader Is\u00adland, al\u00adso known as Rapa Nui.<\/p>\n

.Culled from World Science<\/p>\n

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