April 25, 2024

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“Magic drug” metformin may make people live to 120 years old

“Magic drug” metformin may make people live to 120 years old



 

The world’s first “elixir of life” comes out: “Magic drug” metformin may make people live to 120 years old.

 

Researchers have shown that metformin, which is used to treat diabetes, can prolong life in animals.

The US Food and Drug Administration has now approved the clinical trials, and the success of the trial means that people in their 70s will be biologically as healthy as people in their 50s.

 

"Magic drug" metformin may make people live to 120 years old

Reference picture

 

 

Scientists believe that the best anti-aging drug candidate is metformin

 

The British “Daily Telegraph” reported that scientists now believe that it is possible to delay the speed of human aging and let them live healthy to their 110s and even 120s.

 

Researchers have shown that metformin, which is used to treat diabetes, can prolong life in animals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now approved the clinical trial to see if the drug can have the same effect in people.

 

 

Researchers have shown that metformin, which is used to treat diabetes, can prolong life in animals.

 

If the trial is successful, it means that people in their 70s will be as biologically healthy as people in their 50s. Instead of treating cancer, diabetes and dementia separately, doctors will only need to target the underlying mechanism of aging.

 

Aging is not an inevitable part of life, as all cells contain a DNA blueprint that keeps the body functioning properly forever. Some sea creatures don’t age at all.

 

But in our lifetime, we must go through billions of cell divisions in order to maintain the normal functioning of the body.

And the more times a cell divides, the more errors creep into the process. As cellular problems multiply, the body will eventually be unable to repair the damage.

In the case of cancer, cells no longer have the ability to shed mutations, and tumors continue to grow. In Alzheimer’s disease, for example, once the brain stops clearing the amyloid plaques, a person can then develop symptoms of dementia.

 

Scientists believe that the best anti-aging drug candidate is metformin. It’s the world’s most widely used hypoglycemic drug, and it costs as little as 10p (about 15 cents) a day to take.

Metformin increases the amount of oxygen molecules released into cells, which appears to increase body fitness and prolong life.

 

When Belgian researchers tested metformin in C. elegans, the worms not only aged more slowly, they also stayed in a healthier state for longer.

They didn’t slow down or develop wrinkles. When metformin was administered to mice, they lived nearly 40 percent longer and had stronger bones.

Last year, Cardiff University in the UK found that people with diabetes who were given metformin actually lived longer than non-diabetic patients, even though diabetes should theoretically cut their lives by an average of eight years.

 

 

The clinical trial, titled “Anti-aging with Metformin,” is scheduled to begin in the United States in the winter of 2016. Scientists from multiple institutions are currently raising funds and recruiting 3,000 older adults between the ages of 70 and 80 who have or are at risk of developing cancer, heart disease and dementia in the future.

They hope to prove that metformin can delay aging and prevent the occurrence and development of disease.

 

The editors searched ClinicalTrials, but this study has not yet been retrieved, but will continue to follow the development of this study.

Numerous studies of metformin in the treatment of various types of tumors are being conducted on ClinicalTrials.

 

 

Source: Compiled by MedSci from Reference News Network

 

Does metformin have the magical effect of anti-aging and anti-tumor?

 

1. Metformin can prolong the life of people with type 2 diabetes, even longer than those without diabetes

 

A large study of 180,000 people found that long-term metformin patients with type 2 diabetes may live longer on average than non-diabetic patients, and that metformin also has health benefits for non-diabetic patients.

 

The researchers studied the survival of patients with type 2 diabetes who took metformin and sulfonylureas and compared the life expectancy of these patients with matched non-diabetic patients. The clinical status and other indicators were matched. The results showed that compared with non-diabetic patients, the quality of life of individuals with diabetes who took metformin was significantly improved, and their life expectancy was higher; the quality of life of individuals who took sulfonylureas was reduced, and their life expectancy was also reduced.

 

Professor Craig Currie, the leader of the study, said: “Metformin has anti-cancer effects, can also help people resist the intrusion of cardiovascular disease, and can reduce the incidence of people at high risk of diabetes by up to one-third. .”

 

Source: Diabetes Obes Metab, 2014, 16(11):1165-1173.

 

2. Metformin strengthens healthy cells and prolongs cell lifespan

 

A Belgian study found that by promoting the release of toxic oxygen molecules from cells, metformin increases cellular robustness and longevity, ultimately slowing aging and prolonging individual lifespan.

 

Through the research on the anti-aging mechanism of metformin in C. elegans, it was found that with the aging of C. elegans, the individual will gradually become smaller, the whole body will fold, and finally the exercise ability will gradually decrease.

The reduction in body size and wrinkling of the nematodes was significantly reduced, which not only slowed the rate of aging, but also returned to a healthy state.

 

The researchers say that as the molecular weight of harmful reactive oxygen species released in cells is reduced, it can have long-lasting beneficial effects on cells.

Cells normally make efficient use of ROS particles before ROS become toxic to cells, and metformin tends to cause a slight increase in harmful ROS in cells, making cells stronger and extending the lifespan of healthy cells.

 

Source: Proc NatlAcadSci USA, 2014, 111(24): E2501-E2509.

 


3. Metformin may become an anti-aging drug

 

Researchers from University College London co-cultured nematodes with E. coli and tested the effects of metformin on these worms.

They found that only when the co-cultured E. coli were sensitive to the drug, the worms treated with metformin lived longer.

 

In the whole study, the treatment time with metformin was 6 days, which was about 1/3 of the normal lifespan of nematodes.

It was either by changing the metabolism of bacteria living in the nematodes and limiting the nematode host’s ability to obtain nutrients. similar effects to dietary restriction.

 

Source: Cell, 2013, 153(1):228-239.

 

4. Metformin promotes health and lifespan in mice

 

A study published in Nature Communications showed that regular low doses of metformin during middle age improved the health and lifespan of mice, while higher doses shortened their lifespan.

 

The research team tested two doses of 0.1% and 1.0%, respectively, and the results showed that compared with the group not taking metformin, the group taking the 0.1% dose increased survival by about 6%, but the group taking the 1.0% dose shortened life expectancy by more than 14% on average. %, the latter may be due to renal failure, while the 0.1% dose group did not appear to have any effect on the kidneys.

 

Studies have shown that metformin appears to boost the efficiency of mice using fat for energy production, and that metformin also helps the body maintain body weight as the mice age, a feature associated with longer survival.

Metformin also prevented the development of metabolic syndrome and appeared to exert antioxidant effects in mice.

 

Rafael de Cabo, who led the study, said: “Aging is a driving force behind metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Given that metformin has been clinically proven to reduce symptoms and reduce cancer risk in these diseases, we think it may be a good drug candidate. , which can be used to study its broader impact on health and longevity.”

 

Source: Nat Commun, 2013, 4:2192.

 

5. Metformin anti-aging clinical trial or start

 

Professor Nir Barzilai, a scientist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, USA, is preparing to submit an application to the FDA, hoping to conduct a clinical trial to study the anti-aging effect of metformin. The FDA welcomed the proposal, saying it was an idea worth considering.

 

The study will include mostly patients with cancer, heart disease, and cognitive impairment, and without type 2 diabetes, because diabetics may already be taking the drug, even if it works. The project plans to track 3,000 people over the age of 70 for five consecutive years. Currently, the main obstacle is a lack of funding, which requires $50 million.

 

Matt Kaeberlein of the University of Washington thinks Barzilai’s research plan is sound. Although animal experiments have found that other drugs have stronger anti-aging effects, the long-term clinical history of metformin is an important basis. If approved, this would be the first clinical trial of an anti-aging drug in humans.

 

Source: British “Daily Mail” website

 

 

The magical effect of metformin against cancer

 

1. The anticancer effect of metformin

 

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers from the Department of Immunology at Okayama University in Japan demonstrated that metformin exhibited anti-cancer effects by increasing the number of tumor CD8+ infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and preventing the reduction of CD8+ TILs due to apoptosis. effect.

 

TILs are special tumor-aggressive immune cells that can directly attack tumor cells. The number of TILs is closely related to the survival rate of patients.

A large number of TILs can avoid apoptosis caused by immune response, which may be the cytological basis of metformin in anti-cancer .

 

This study suggests that metformin may have unexpected effects in combination with various anti-cancer immunotherapies.

 

Source: Proc NatlAcadSci USA, 2015, 112(6):1809-1814.

 

2. Metformin inhibits esophageal cancer mechanism has been proven

 

The research group led by Professor Zhang Hao of Shantou University School of Medicine discovered the mechanism of action of the anti-diabetic drug metformin on human esophageal cancer and conducted preclinical research.

 

The research group elaborated relevant scientific issues at the molecular, cellular, whole (animal model) and patient specimen levels.

It was found that metformin selectively inhibited the growth of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells, in addition to inducing apoptotic cell death and inhibiting cell proliferation, but also induced autophagy.

Inhibition of autophagy at the drug or gene level can make tumor cells more sensitive to metformin-induced apoptotic death.

 

Metformin treatment inactivated the Stat3 pathway, especially the Stat3-Bcl2-Beclin1 network signaling pathway, and promoted the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy, resulting in metformin-induced tumor growth inhibition.

 

Source: Cell Death Dis, 2014, 5: e1088.

 

3. Metformin has inhibitory effect on liver cancer

 

Professor Wang Hongyang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, led researchers from the Second Military Medical University and Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine to find that metformin has an inhibitory effect on liver cancer.

Relevant research papers were published as cover articles in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, an international oncology journal.

 

The study analyzed samples from 273 liver cancer patients and found that the activity of protein kinase (AMPK) in liver cancer cells was reduced, and low levels of AMPK activity were associated with poor patient prognosis. Metformin can activate AMPK in hepatoma cells, inhibit cell proliferation, and reduce their tumorigenic ability in vivo.

The researchers analyzed the molecular mechanism of this effect, that is, metformin inhibits the activity of the transcription factor NF-KB signaling pathway by activating AMPK.

 

The study revealed that metformin has great potential in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

 

Source: Clin Cancer Res, 2013, 19(19): 5372-5380.

 

More and more studies have found that in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with mild to moderate impairment of renal function, the levels of urine protein and serum creatinine in the continued use group tended to decrease compared with those who discontinued metformin.

It means that the renal function has improved, and the reason may be related to factors such as the significant decrease in blood sugar, the reduction of blood sugar fluctuations, and the weight loss after the use of metformin.

Ultimately, these patients increased their life expectancy and improved their quality of life by adding metformin.

 

The status of the ace drug of metformin will not be surpassed in the next 20 years, maybe even 50 years.

Metformin, like caloric restriction, extends the lifespan of organisms, which has been demonstrated in nematodes, rats and mice.

In this way, metformin can be called “magic medicine” and “elixir”!

 

 

 

“Magic drug” metformin may make people live to 120 years old

(source:internet, reference only)


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