Oliver's mTOR Atlas Evidence Platform
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A randomized controlled trial to establish effects of short-term rapamycin treatment in 24 middle-aged companion dogs

Urfer SR, Kaeberlein M et al. · 2017 · GeroScience · Atlas ID URF2017

What this study shows

A short 10-week course of low-dose rapamycin improved heart function measures in healthy pet dogs with no clinical side effects.

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 type4 - Animal Study
Model systemCompanion dogs (client-owned, RCT)
JournalGeroScience
Year2017
Peer reviewedYes
Record last updated2026-08-22
SourceDOI 10.1007/s11357-017-9972-z · PMID 28374166 · Free full text (PMC5411365)

Extracted findings

InterventionRapamycin (short-term)
TargetmTOR
ModelCompanion dogs (client-owned RCT, n=24)
EffectShort-term rapamycin was well tolerated in middle-aged dogs, with signs of improved cardiac function

In the Atlas

Related topics

LongevityRapamycinmTOR

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Cite this paper

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Urfer, S. R., et al. (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, M. and others},
  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}
}