A randomized controlled trial to establish effects of short-term rapamycin treatment in 24 middle-aged companion dogs

Urfer SR, Kaeberlein TL, Mailheau S, Bergman PJ, Creevy KE, Promislow DEL, Kaeberlein M · 2017 · GeroScience · Atlas ID URF2017

What this study shows

A short 10-week course of low-dose rapamycin in healthy pet dogs caused no clinical side effects, and echocardiography suggested improved measures of heart function.

Abstract

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Age is the single greatest risk factor for most causes of morbidity and mortality in humans and their companion animals. As opposed to other model organisms used to study aging, dogs share the human environment, are subject to similar risk factors, receive comparable medical care, and develop many of the same age-related diseases humans do. In this study, 24 middle-aged healthy dogs received either placebo or a non-immunosuppressive dose of rapamycin for 10 weeks.

Read the full abstract on PubMed →

At a glance

Evidence type	A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Companion dogs (client-owned, RCT)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type	4 - Animal Study
Model system	Companion dogs (client-owned, RCT)
Journal	GeroScience
Year	2017
Peer reviewed	Yes
Record last updated	2026-10-01
Source	DOI 10.1007/s11357-017-9972-z · PMID 28374166 · Free full text (PMC5411365)

Extracted findings

These fields were extracted from the paper with AI assistance and have not been checked against the source. Read them as a pointer into the paper, not as curated claims; where they disagree with the curated summary above, the curated summary stands.

Intervention	Rapamycin (short-term)
Target	mTOR
Model	Companion dogs (client-owned RCT, n=24)
Effect	Short-term rapamycin was well tolerated in middle-aged dogs, with signs of improved cardiac function

In the Atlas

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Cite this paper

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Urfer, S. R., Kaeberlein, T. L., Mailheau, S., Bergman, P. J., Creevy, K. E., Promislow, D. E. L., & Kaeberlein, M. (2017). A randomized controlled trial to establish effects of short-term rapamycin treatment in 24 middle-aged companion dogs. GeroScience. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-017-9972-z

@article{URF2017,
  author       = {Urfer, S. R. and Kaeberlein, T. L. and Mailheau, S. and Bergman, P. J. and Creevy, K. E. and Promislow, D. E. L. and Kaeberlein, M.},
  title        = {{A randomized controlled trial to establish effects of short-term rapamycin treatment in 24 middle-aged companion dogs}},
  journal      = {GeroScience},
  year         = {2017},
  doi          = {10.1007/s11357-017-9972-z},
  note         = {PMID: 28374166},
}

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 URF2017) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/URF2017/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_URF2017,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record URF2017},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/URF2017/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}

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