Researchers could be closing in on a \"fountain of youth\" drug that can delay the effects of aging and improve the health of older adults, a new study suggests. <\/p>\n
Seniors received a significant boost to their immune systems when given a drug that targets a genetic signaling pathway linked to aging and immune function, researchers with the drug maker Novartis report. <\/p>\n
The experimental medication, a version of the drug rapamycin, improved the seniors' immune response to a flu vaccine by 20 percent, researchers said in the current issue of Science Translational Medicine. <\/p>\n
The study is a \"watershed\" moment for research into the health effects of aging, said Dr. Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. <\/p>\n
Rapamycin belongs to a class of drugs known as mTOR inhibitors, which have been shown to counteract aging and aging-related diseases in mice and other animals. <\/p>\n
Barzilai, who wasn't involved in the study, said this is one of the first studies to show that these drugs also can delay the effects of aging in humans. <\/p>\n
\"It sets the stage for using this drug to target aging, to improve everything about aging,\" Barzilai said. \"That's really going to be for us a turning point in research, and we are very excited.\" <\/p>\n
The mTOR genetic pathway promotes healthy growth in the young. But it appears to have a negative effect on mammals as they grow older, said study lead author Dr. Joan Mannick, executive director of the New Indications Discovery Unit at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. <\/p>\n
When drugs like rapamycin are used to inhibit the effects of the mTOR pathway in mice, they \"seem to extend lifespan and delay the onset of aging-related illnesses,\" Mannick said. <\/p>\n
Mannick and her colleagues decided to investigate whether a rapamycin-like drug could reverse the natural decline that elderly people experience in their ability to fight off infections. <\/p>\n
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\nResearchers take "baby step" toward anti-aging drug<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"