Rapamycin improves healthspan but not inflammaging in nfkb1 mice

Correia-Melo C, Birch J, Fielder E, Rahmatika D, Taylor J, Chapman J, Lagnado A, Carroll BM, Miwa S, Richardson G, Jurk D, Oakley F · 2018 · Aging cell · Atlas ID COR2018

What this study shows

Separates two effects of rapamycin that are usually assumed to travel together. In mice with genetically enhanced NF-kB activity, rapamycin showed no benefit in lifespan and no reduction of inflammaging, yet still reduced frailty and improved long-term memory, neuromuscular coordination and tissue architecture, with lower markers of cellular senescence. Healthspan benefit is therefore uncoupled here from suppression of inflammation, which is a boundary condition on the common claim that rapamycin acts on ageing mainly by damping inflammation. Note the mixed result: the healthspan outcomes are positive, the lifespan and inflammaging outcomes are null.

Abstract

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Increased activation of the major pro-inflammatory NF-κB pathway leads to numerous age-related diseases, including chronic liver disease (CLD). Rapamycin, an inhibitor of mTOR, extends lifespan and healthspan, potentially via suppression of inflammaging, a process which is partially dependent on NF-κB signalling. However, it is unknown if rapamycin has beneficial effects in the context of compromised NF-κB signalling, such as that which occurs in several age-related chronic diseases.

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At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: nfkb1-knockout mice (genetically enhanced NF-kB activity, low-grade chronic inflammation, accelerated ageing); dietary rapamycin); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	nfkb1-knockout mice (genetically enhanced NF-kB activity, low-grade chronic inflammation, accelerated ageing); dietary rapamycin
Journal	Aging cell
Year	2018
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-09-23
Source	DOI 10.1111/acel.12882 · PMID 30468013

Cite this paper

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Correia-Melo, C., Birch, J., Fielder, E., Rahmatika, D., Taylor, J., Chapman, J., Lagnado, A., Carroll, B. M., Miwa, S., Richardson, G., Jurk, D., Oakley, F., Mann, J., Mann, D. A., Korolchuk, V. I., & Passos, J. F. (2018). Rapamycin improves healthspan but not inflammaging in nfkb1 mice. Aging cell. https://doi.org/10.1111/acel.12882

@article{COR2018,
  author       = {Correia-Melo, C. and Birch, J. and Fielder, E. and Rahmatika, D. and Taylor, J. and Chapman, J. and Lagnado, A. and Carroll, B. M. and Miwa, S. and Richardson, G. and Jurk, D. and Oakley, F. and Mann, J. and Mann, D. A. and Korolchuk, V. I. and Passos, J. F.},
  title        = {{Rapamycin improves healthspan but not inflammaging in nfkb1 mice}},
  journal      = {Aging cell},
  year         = {2018},
  doi          = {10.1111/acel.12882},
  note         = {PMID: 30468013},
}

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 COR2018) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/COR2018/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_COR2018,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record COR2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/COR2018/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}