Lifespan benefits for the combination of rapamycin plus acarbose and for captopril in genetically heterogeneous mice
What this study shows
NIA Interventions Testing Program C2017 cohort. In MALE mice, rapamycin plus acarbose started at 9 months produced a longer lifespan than either of the two prior ITP cohorts treated with rapamycin alone, suggesting the combination is more potent than its components used separately. In FEMALES the combination was neither better nor worse than rapamycin alone, which the authors relate to the limited survival benefit acarbose alone had shown in earlier female cohorts. Captopril gave a small but significant lifespan increase in females (4-5%). CAVEAT (important for how this is cited): the rapamycin-only comparison is HISTORICAL, against prior cohorts, not a concurrent rapamycin-only arm in the same experiment, so 'more potent than either component' is the authors' suggestion rather than a within-experiment randomised comparison.
At a glance
| Evidence type | A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Genetically heterogeneous UM-HET3 mice, three test sites (ITP C2017 cohort)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data. |
| Study type | 4 - Animal Study |
| Model system | Genetically heterogeneous UM-HET3 mice, three test sites (ITP C2017 cohort) |
| Journal | Aging Cell |
| Year | 2022 |
| Peer reviewed | — |
| Record last updated | 2026-08-22 |
| Source | DOI 10.1111/acel.13724 · PMID 36179270 · Free full text (PMC9741502) |
Extracted findings
| Intervention | Rapamycin + acarbose combination; captopril; (R/S)-1,3-butanediol; leucine; PB125; sulindac; syringaresinol |
| Target | mTORC1 (rapamycin); alpha-glucosidase / glucose absorption (acarbose) |
| Model | Mouse |
| Effect | Rapamycin + acarbose from 9 months outlived prior rapamycin-only cohorts in males; no added benefit over rapamycin alone in females |
In the Atlas
Related topics
More studies on this topic
- Acarbose, 17-alpha-estradiol, and nordihydroguaiaretic acid extend mouse lifespan preferentially in males (2014)
- Transient rapamycin treatment can increase lifespan and healthspan in middle-aged mice (2016)
- Mechanisms of life span extension by rapamycin in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (2010)
- Late-life rapamycin treatment reverses age-related heart dysfunction (2013)