Anti-Aging Drug Breakthrough: Can Humans Live to 150?Monday, 11 Mar 2013 04:52 PM By Nick Tate
More than 100 drugs have been found to combat aging by virtually
the same biological mechanisms and may be available within five
years, according to landmark new research led by a Harvard
University researcher.
The work, published in the journal
Science, has proven that a single anti-aging enzyme in
the body — known scientifically as SIRT1 — can prevent
age-related diseases and extend lifespans. The research also
shows that SIRT can be switched on by 117 known drugs, as well
as low-calorie diets, exercise, and the antioxidant resveratrol,
found in red wine.
David Sinclair, a Harvard Medical School professor of genetics,
said the discovery means that a whole new class of anti-aging
drugs is now viable, which could ultimately prevent cancer,
Alzheimer's disease, and type 2 diabetes.
"Ultimately, these drugs would treat one disease, but unlike
drugs of today, they would prevent 20 others," said Sinclair.
"In effect, they would slow aging."
He added: “We're finding that aging isn't the irreversible
affliction that we thought it was. Some of us could live to 150,
but we won't get there without more research."
According to the new research, SIRT1 is activated naturally by
calorie restriction and exercise, but can also be switched on by
resveratrol — found in red wine, grape skins, peanuts, and
berries — as well as drugs and supplements.
Although research on resveratrol has been going for a decade,
Sinclair’s work is the first to identify the basic science that
explains how it confers health benefits. Past studies have
suggested it may have promising implications for the treatment
of cancer, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, type 2
diabetes, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, fatty liver disease,
cataracts, osteoporosis, muscle wasting, sleep disorders, and
inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, arthritis, and colitis.
Sinclair formed a started up company, Sirtris, to develop the
anti-aging medical technology. It was subsequently sold to
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Sinclair is now a scientific advisor to
GSK. Several other authors on the paper work for GSK or an
affiliated company. Four thousand synthetic activators, which
are 100 times as potent as a single glass of red wine, have been
developed; the best three are in human trials, Sinclair noted.
"In the history of pharmaceuticals, there has never been a drug
that tweaks an enzyme to make it run faster," said Sinclair, who
is also a geneticist with the Department of Pharmacology at the
University of South Wales, Australia. "Our drugs can mimic the
benefits of diet and exercise, but there is no impact on
weight."
While any drug would be strictly prescribed for certain
conditions, Sinclair said oral medications could be developed
soon as an anti-aging preventative, in the same way statin drugs
are prescribed to prevent, instead of simply treating,
cardiovascular disease.
In new research, led by Sinclair, overweight mice given
synthetic resveratrol were able to run twice as far as slim mice
and they lived 15 percent longer.
"Now we are looking at whether there are benefits for those who
are already healthy," said Sinclair. “Things there are also
looking promising.”
The study was funded, in part, by the National Institutes of
Health.
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