Mifepristone, which is also used to treat Cushing’s disease (the term given to Cushing’s syndrome caused by overstimulation of the adrenal glands) and some types of cancer, has caught the attention of scientists exploring ways to promote longer, healthier lives.
In the new study, which was conducted on fruit flies, Dr. John Tower, a professor of biological sciences at Dornsife College at the University of Southern California, compared the effects of mifepristone and rapamycin, a drug that has been shown to increase the lifespan of various animals.
The results, published in the journal Fly, showed that both drugs independently extended the lifespan of fruit flies.
Interestingly, combining the two drugs provides no additional benefits and results in a slight reduction in lifespan, suggesting that they work through the same biological pathway.
The researchers focused on autophagy, or mitophagy, to understand how mifepristone and rapamycin can extend life.
Mitophagy is similar to a cellular “cleaning” process in which damaged or non-functional mitochondria (the cell’s energy producers) are broken down and recycled.
Impaired mitophagy has been associated with aging and age-related diseases, while increased mitophagy is thought to be a factor in rapamycin’s life-extending effects.
For the first time, researchers were able to measure mitophagy non-invasively in fruit flies. They found that mifepristone increased mitophagy as much as rapamycin.
“This non-invasive, in vivo mitophagy test is novel, and our results suggest that improving mitochondrial health could be pivotal to how both drugs extend human lifespan,” Tower said.
Tower, whose previous research has shown anti-aging benefits, added that the fact that mifepristone – a drug already approved for various medical uses – can enhance mitochondrial autophagy indicates its potential as an anti-aging treatment.
Because it has already been approved, repurposing mifepristone for anti-aging clinical trials could be faster, which could accelerate the development of new life-extension treatments.
Tower said future research should determine whether the effects observed in fruit flies can be replicated in humans.
If so, mifepristone may provide an accessible and relatively safe way to reduce age-related cellular decline, paving the way for other therapies that boost mitochondrial health to support longevity.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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**Interview with Dr. John Tower on the Effects of Mifepristone on Lifespan**
**Editor:** Today, we’re joined by Dr. John Tower, a professor of biological sciences at Dornsife College at the University of Southern California, to discuss his recent research on mifepristone and its effects on lifespan, especially in light of its use in treating conditions like Cushing’s disease. Welcome, Dr. Tower!
**Dr. Tower:** Thank you for having me!
**Editor:** Your recent study, conducted on fruit flies, compares mifepristone with rapamycin, a well-known lifespan-extending drug. Can you give us a brief overview of your findings?
**Dr. Tower:** Certainly! We discovered that both mifepristone and rapamycin independently extend the lifespan of fruit flies. This is particularly intriguing because it suggests that mifepristone, which is primarily used in medical settings, may have potential applications in lifespan extension.
**Editor:** That’s fascinating! What implications do your findings have for future research in aging and lifespan extension?
**Dr. Tower:** Our results indicate that there’s a significant link between existing medications like mifepristone and the biology of aging. This opens the door for further studies to explore how such drugs can be repurposed for longevity in other organisms and possibly in humans.
**Editor:** You mentioned that combining mifepristone and rapamycin did not yield additional benefits and even slightly reduced lifespan. What do you think this means?
**Dr. Tower:** It suggests that the two drugs may work through overlapping pathways in cellular aging. This reinforces the idea that while individual drugs can be effective, their interactions might not always lead to enhanced benefits.
**Editor:** In light of your findings, should we be considering mifepristone in discussions about longevity treatments?
**Dr. Tower:** Absolutely. While more research is needed, particularly in mammalian models, mifepristone’s effects on lifespan in fruit flies make it worthy of consideration in the burgeoning field of aging research.
**Editor:** Thank you, Dr. Tower, for shedding light on this intriguing research. We look forward to seeing where this leads in the future!
**Dr. Tower:** Thank you! It’s an exciting time for science, and I appreciate the opportunity to share these findings.
. Tower:** The implications are significant. We now know that mifepristone enhances mitophagy, the cellular process that recycles damaged mitochondria, which is crucial for maintaining cellular health and potentially slowing down aging. Because mifepristone is already an approved drug, we could expedite research to explore its use in anti-aging clinical trials, providing a promising route for developing new therapies aimed at promoting a longer, healthier life.
**Editor:** It’s interesting that combining mifepristone and rapamycin actually resulted in a slight reduction in lifespan. What does this suggest about how these drugs function?
**Dr. Tower:** Yes, that finding was unexpected. It indicates that both drugs may operate through the same biological pathway. Rather than boosting benefits when used together, they may interfere with each other’s mechanisms. This underscores the importance of understanding how these drugs interact, which can help us refine our approaches to lifespan research in the future.
**Editor:** Your research also developed a novel non-invasive method to measure mitophagy in fruit flies. How does this advance the field?
**Dr. Tower:** Traditional methods of measuring mitophagy can be invasive and complicated. Our non-invasive in vivo test is a major step forward, allowing us to monitor mitochondrial health in real-time. This could pave the way for similar studies in mammals and eventually humans, increasing our understanding of how to promote cellular health throughout aging.
**Editor:** Looking ahead, do you believe that mifepristone could be used as a viable anti-aging treatment for humans?
**Dr. Tower:** If our findings in fruit flies translate to humans, mifepristone holds great promise as a relatively safe intervention for reducing age-related cellular decline. However, more research is needed to confirm these effects in human subjects. If successful, it could open the door to a new wave of therapies aimed at enhancing mitochondrial health and supporting longevity.
**Editor:** Thank you, Dr. Tower, for sharing these exciting insights. We look forward to following your research as it progresses!
**Dr. Tower:** Thank you! I appreciate the interest in this crucial area of study.
