Article Image

IPFS News Link • Drugs and Medications

Drug boosts immune system in elderly people by 40% and it also has antiaging effect in fruit flies

• nextbigfuture.com by brian wang

They safely reducing infections in elderly volunteers around 40% by enhancing the immune system.

In 2004, tests that blocked a similar enzyme in fruit flies gave them a longer lifespan.

Science – TORC1 inhibition enhances immune function and reduces infections in the elderly

Dialing down TORC1 dials up immunity

Aging may be regulated by a discrete set of intracellular proteins including the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase. mTOR functions within two multiprotein complexes called TORC1 and TORC2. Inhibition of TORC1 has extended life span in every species studied to date and ameliorated multiple aging-related pathologies including declining immune function. Mannick et al. now show that low-dose TORC1 inhibitor therapy in elderly humans decreased the incidence of all infections, improved influenza vaccination responses, and up-regulated antiviral immunity. Thus, targeting the TORC1 pathway that regulates aging may have clinical benefits for elderly humans including improvement in immune function and decreased infection rates.


ContentSafe