Oliver's mTOR Atlas Evidence Platform
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Transient rapamycin treatment can increase lifespan and healthspan in middle-aged mice

Bitto A, Kaeberlein M et al. · 2016 · eLife · Atlas ID BIT2016

What this study shows

Just 3 months of rapamycin late in life increased subsequent life expectancy by up to 60% - evidence that transient, not lifelong, dosing can capture the benefit.

Abstract

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The FDA approved drug rapamycin increases lifespan in rodents and delays age-related dysfunction in rodents and humans. Nevertheless, important questions remain regarding the optimal dose, duration, and mechanisms of action in the context of healthy aging. Here we show that 3 months of rapamycin treatment is sufficient to increase life expectancy by up to 60% and improve measures of healthspan in middle-aged mice. This transient treatment is also associated with a remodeling of the microbiome, including dramatically increased prevalence of segmented filamentous bacteria in the small intestine.

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At a glance

Evidence type A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal study reporting a negative or null result (model: Mouse (middle-aged)); a well-designed null result is still evidence, and the code names the system studied, not the importance.
Study type4 - Animal Study
Model systemMouse (middle-aged)
JournaleLife
Year2016
Peer reviewedYes
Record last updated2026-08-22
SourceDOI 10.7554/eLife.16351 · PMID 27549339 · Free full text (PMC4996648)

Extracted findings

InterventionRapamycin (transient, 3 months)
TargetmTOR
ModelMouse (middle-aged)
EffectA 3-month transient rapamycin course increased life expectancy up to 60% and improved healthspan
Dose8 mg/kg rapamycin via intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections daily for 90 days, starting at 20–21 months of age.
Sample sizeMales: N=18 vehicle, N=17 rapamycin; Females: N=20 vehicle, N=20 rapamycin for survival analysis.
Effect sizeMale mice: 60% increase in median life expectancy from end of treatment (p=0.02) and 16% increase in overall median lifespan from birth (p=0.03). Female mice: no significant increase in survival (p=0.261), but increased incidence of aggressive hematopoietic cancers (16/16 vs 6/12 controls, p=0.002) and decreased non-hematopoietic neoplasms (1/16 vs 7/12 controls, p=0.004).
LimitationsNo data on animals that may have died prior to receipt from NIA for lifespan curves.

In the Atlas

Related topics

LongevityRapamycinmTOR

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Cite this paper

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Bitto, A., et al. (2016). Transient rapamycin treatment can increase lifespan and healthspan in middle-aged mice. eLife. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.16351

@article{BIT2016,
  author       = {Bitto, A. and Kaeberlein, M. and others},
  title        = {{Transient rapamycin treatment can increase lifespan and healthspan in middle-aged mice}},
  journal      = {eLife},
  year         = {2016},
  doi          = {10.7554/eLife.16351},
  note         = {PMID: 27549339},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper. 

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record BIT2016) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BIT2016/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_BIT2016,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record BIT2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/BIT2016/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}