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Rapamycin extends life in every species it has been properly tested in, which is why people take it off-label. In humans there are two randomised results worth knowing: a related drug improved the flu vaccine response in older people by about a fifth, and a year of low-dose rapamycin in healthy adults did not change its primary endpoint. That is the whole of it.
Rapamycin (sirolimus) and its analogues inhibit mTOR, the pathway whose suppression extends lifespan in yeast, worms, flies and mice. Two human randomised trials matter here. In the first, RAD001 (everolimus) given to elderly volunteers before influenza vaccination improved the antibody response by about 20 per cent at reasonably tolerated doses and reduced the proportion of PD-1-expressing CD4 and CD8 T cells. In the second, the PEARL trial, 48 weeks of intermittent rapamycin at 5 mg or 10 mg weekly in healthy normative-ageing adults left the primary endpoint, visceral adiposity by DXA, unchanged (P = 0.942). Adverse and serious adverse events were similar across groups. Lean tissue mass and self-reported pain improved in women on 10 mg, and emotional wellbeing and general health improved on 5 mg; these are secondary and self-reported outcomes in a decentralised trial.
In oncology mTOR inhibitors are approved cancer drugs with a known profile: stomatitis, non-infectious pneumonitis, hyperglycaemia, hyperlipidaemia and immunosuppression. They are used after transplant precisely because they suppress immunity, which is not an obvious thing to add to someone whose immune system is still reconstituting after chemotherapy. Compounded rapamycin sold through longevity clinics is not the same supply chain as the licensed product.
There is no trial of rapamycin in cancer survivors for ageing outcomes, and no guideline anywhere recommends it for that purpose.
mTORC1 integrates nutrient and growth signals and drives protein synthesis while suppressing autophagy. Partial, intermittent inhibition is thought to restore autophagic clearance and reduce the anabolic load that accumulates with age; the immune effect seen with everolimus is attributed to reduced T-cell exhaustion markers.
Query for this technology: (TITLE:"rapamycin" OR ABSTRACT:"rapamycin" OR TITLE:"sirolimus" OR ABSTRACT:"sirolimus" OR TITLE:"mTOR inhibition" OR ABSTRACT:"mTOR inhibition") AND (aging OR ageing OR immunosenescence OR healthspan). Results are unfiltered search hits about Rapamycin and mTOR inhibition for ageing, not a curated reading list.
Shares What actually works after treatment, Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance, Survivorship and late effects are neglected and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship, repurposing.
Shares What actually works after treatment, Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance, Survivorship and late effects are neglected and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship.
Shares What actually works after treatment, Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance, Survivorship and late effects are neglected and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship.
Shares What actually works after treatment, Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship.
Shares What actually works after treatment, Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship and late effects are neglected and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship.
Shares What actually works after treatment, Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance, Survivorship and late effects are neglected and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship.
Shares Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance, Survivorship and late effects are neglected and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship.
Shares Late effects and survivorship toxicity, Survivorship care and late-effects surveillance, Survivorship and late effects are neglected and the tags rejuvenation, survivorship.