Anti-aging drug extends life up to 25%, staves off frailty and disease

New Atlas ^ | JULY 18, 2024 | Bronwyn Thompson

[Red Badger]

For the first time, scientists have demonstrated how a specific protein increases in our organs as we get older and actively promotes the aging process. By blocking this activity, it could not only help us live longer, but slow the physical decline that is, right now, an inevitable part of aging.

Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore have previously undertaken three different studies to examine interleukin-11 (IL-11) protein expression and its role in heart and kidney, liver and lung health. The lattermost research has led to an experimental anti-IL-11 therapy that's currently in clinical trials to treat fibrotic lung disease.

Building on this work, the team identified IL-11's role in the aging process, with its increased production leading to fat accumulating in the liver and abdomen, as well as reduced muscle mass and strength. By blocking this protein expression, these hallmarks of aging could be drastically reduced.

[SNIP]

In a preclinical mouse model, the researchers found that deleting this protein provided protection against age-related decline, frailty and disease. Deleting the IL-11 gene in mice extended the lives of the animals by an average of 24.9%. When mice were given an anti-IL-11 therapeutic at 75 weeks of age (the equivalent of around 55 human years) until death, the average lifespan of male mice was increased by 22.5% and 25% in female mice.

The mice didn't just live longer, they were shielded from key signs of aging. Anti-IL-11 therapy boosted metabolism, with the animals producing calorie-burning brown fat, not problematic stores of white fat, blocked the loss of muscle mass and strength, and protected against multimorbidity and cardiometabolic diseases.

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TOPICS: Education; Health/Medicine; Military/Veterans; Society
KEYWORDS: antiaging; hh2; hivaging; interleukin11

[Red Badger]

If this pans out, the wealthy elites will hog it all for themselves.........

[AdmSmith]

It will not be more expensive than
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/novo-nordisk-ceo-jorgensen-agrees-testify-senate-over-us-pricing-semaglutide-products

here is a patent application https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/073776540/publication/US2023399393A1?q=pn%3DUS2023399393A1

[AdmSmith]

After reading this "Emerging roles for IL-11 in inflammatory diseases" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043466621003392?via%3Dihub
I guess that another pharmaceutical company will develop a drug against one of the inflammatory diseases that works differently, and that drug would have a side effect - increase the lifespan.

[AdmSmith]

This is a good article “Understanding interleukin 11 as a disease gene and therapeutic target” https://portlandpress.com/biochemj/article/480/23/1987/233798/Understanding-interleukin-11-as-a-disease-gene-and

[Red Badger]

I remember back in the 70’s and early 80’s ‘interleukin 2’ was supposed to be a cure for cancer..................

[AdmSmith]

Biology is tricky. IL-2 is used against melanoma https://www.curemelanoma.org/patient-eng/melanoma-treatment/immunotherapy/interleukin-2-il-2-proleukin

IL-2 can enhance the anti-tumor immune response and reduce tumor growth, as demonstrated in mouse cancer models [231]. However, the systemic administration of IL-2 is associated with adverse effects, limiting its clinical application [71]. To overcome these limitations, researchers are engineering IL-2 for improved efficacy and safety in cancer treatment.
https://molecular-cancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12943-023-01826-7#Sec19

and:
IL11 was until recently accepted by the scientific community as anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, and pro-regenerative; newer studies highlight that IL11 is in fact the opposite: pro-fibrotic, pro-inflammatory and anti-regenerative.

i.e. not easy.