The “magic drug” metformin may make people live to 120 years old!

Scientists believe the best anti-aging drug candidate is metformin

Scientists now believe it is possible to slow people’s aging rate and allow them to live well into their 110s, or even their 120s, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Researchers have shown that metformin, which is used to treat diabetes, can extend the lifespan of 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 extend the lifespan of animals.

If the trial is successful, it means that people in their 70s will be biologically as healthy as people in their 50s. Physicians will no longer have to treat cancer, diabetes and dementia separately, but 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 allows the body to function normally forever. Some sea creatures don’t age at all.

But in our lifetime, billions of cell divisions are necessary to keep the body functioning normally. And the more a cell divides, the more errors sneak into the process.

 As cellular problems mount, the body eventually becomes unable to repair the damage. In cancer, for example, cells no longer have the ability to get rid of mutations, and tumors grow. In the case of Alzheimer’s disease again, once the brain stops clearing away amyloid plaques, dementia symptoms follow.

Scientists believe that the best anti-aging drug candidate is metformin. It is the world’s most widely used antidiabetic drug and costs as little as 10p (about 15 cents) a day to take it. Metformin increases the release of oxygen molecules into cells, which appears to increase fitness and extend lifespan.

When Belgian researchers tested metformin on C. elegans worms, the worms not only aged more slowly, but also stayed healthier for longer. 

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

Last year, Cardiff University in the U.K. found that people with diabetes who take metformin actually live longer than non-diabetics, even though diabetes should in theory knock them off an average of eight years.

The clinical trial, “Fighting Aging with Metformin”, is scheduled to start in the US in winter 2016. Scientists from multiple institutions are currently raising funds and recruiting 3,000 older adults in their 70s and 80s who have or are at risk of developing cancer, heart disease and dementia. They hope to prove that metformin can delay aging and prevent the occurrence and development of disease.

The editor searched ClinicalTrials, but the study has not yet been retrieved, but will continue to track the development of this study. There are a number of ongoing studies of metformin in various tumor types in ClinicalTrials.

Source: from Reference News Network

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

1. Metformin can prolong the life of type 2 diabetic patients, even longer than non-diabetic patients

A large-scale study involving 180,000 people found that the average life expectancy of type 2 diabetic patients who take metformin for a long time may be longer than that of non-diabetic patients, and metformin is also beneficial to the health of non-diabetic patients.

Researchers studied the survival of people with type 2 diabetes who took metformin and sulfonylureas, and compared the life expectancy of these patients with those of 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 diabetic patients taking metformin was significantly improved, and their life expectancy was higher; the quality of life of individuals taking 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 invasion of cardiovascular disease, and can also reduce the incidence of diabetes in high-risk groups, and the risk reduction effect can reach 1/3 .”

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

2. Metformin strengthens healthy cells and prolongs cell life

A Belgian study found that metformin can increase the firmness and lifespan of cells by promoting the release of toxic oxygen molecules in cells, which can ultimately alleviate the aging of the body and prolong the lifespan of individuals.

According to the research on the anti-aging mechanism of metformin in Caenorhabditis elegans, it is found that as the body of Caenorhabditis elegans ages, its individual will gradually become smaller, the whole body will be wrinkled, and finally the motor ability will gradually decrease.

The shrinking speed and wrinkling speed of the nematode body size are significantly reduced, which not only slows down the aging speed, but also restores to a healthy state.

According to the researchers, as the molecular weight of harmful reactive oxygen species released in cells is reduced, it will have long-term beneficial effects on cells. 

Cells usually use ROS particles efficiently before ROS can be toxic to cells, and metformin can often 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 effect of metformin on these nematodes. They found that only when the co-cultured E. coli were sensitive to the drug, the metformin-treated nematodes lived longer.

In the whole study, metformin was used for a total of 6 days, which is about 1/3 of the normal lifespan of nematodes. It may be through changing the metabolism of bacteria living in nematodes and restricting the nematode host to obtain nutrients to play a role, so as to obtain Similar effects to those of dietary restriction.

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

4. Metformin promotes health and prolongs lifespan in mice

A study published in “Nature Communications” shows that regular small doses of metformin given in middle age can improve the health and prolong the lifespan of mice, while larger doses of metformin shorten their lifespan.

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

The study showed that metformin appeared to boost the efficiency with which the mice used fat to generate energy, and metformin also helped the body maintain body weight as the mice aged, a feature that was 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 the symptoms of these diseases and reduce the risk of cancer, we think it may be a good drug candidate , which can be used to study its wider impact on health and lifespan.”

Source: Nat Commun, 2013, 4:2192.

5. Metformin anti-aging clinical trials 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 clinical trials to study the anti-aging effects of metformin. The FDA welcomes the proposal and believes the line of thought is worth considering.

The study will mainly include patients with cancer, heart disease and cognitive impairment, and need not have type 2 diabetes, because diabetic patients may already be able to take the drug, even if it works, it does not explain the problem.

 This project plans to track 3,000 elderly people over 70 years old for 5 consecutive years. At present, the main obstacle is the lack of funds, and its funding needs 50 million US dollars.

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

Source: British “Daily Mail” website

The miraculous effect of metformin against cancer

1. Anticancer effect of metformin

Researchers from the Department of Immunology, Okayama University, Japan, published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, demonstrating that metformin exhibits anticancer properties by increasing the number of tumor CD8+ infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and preventing the reduction of CD8+ TILs due to apoptosis effect.

TILs are a kind of special tumor-attacking immune cells, which can directly attack tumor cells, and the number is closely related to the survival rate of patients. A large number can avoid apoptosis caused by immune response, which may be the cellular basis of metformin’s anti-cancer .

This study suggests that metformin combined with various anti-cancer immunotherapy may have unexpected effects.

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

2. The mechanism of metformin inhibiting esophageal cancer has been proven

The research team led by Zhang Hao, a professor 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 multiple levels such as molecules, cells, whole (animal models) and patient specimens.

 It was found that metformin selectively inhibited the growth of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells and induced autophagy in addition to inducing apoptotic cell death and inhibiting cell proliferation. Inhibition of autophagy at the drug or gene level can make tumor cells more sensitive to metformin-induced apoptotic death.

Metformin treatment inactivates the Stat3 pathway, especially the Stat3-Bcl2-Beclin1 network signaling pathway, and promotes the crosstalk between apoptosis and autophagy, resulting in the growth inhibition of metformin on tumors.

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

3. Metformin has an 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 discover that metformin has an inhibitory effect on liver cancer.

 Relevant research papers were published in the international oncology journal “Clinical Cancer Research” as a cover article.

The study analyzed samples from 273 patients with liver cancer 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 prognosis of patients. 

Metformin can activate AMPK in liver cancer cells, inhibit cell proliferation, and reduce its tumorigenic ability in vivo. 

Researchers have 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 reveals 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, compared with those who stopped using metformin, the urine protein and serum creatinine levels in the continued use group tended to decrease.

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

Finally, these patients prolong life and improve the quality of life by adding metformin.

The status of metformin, the trump card old drug, will not be surpassed in the next 20 years, maybe even 50 years. Metformin, like caloric restriction, extends lifespan in organisms, and this has been demonstrated in nematodes, rats and mice. In this way, metformin can be called a “magic medicine” and “elixir”!