Over the past decades, remarkable progress has occurred in the science of aging in model organisms. Studies have demonstrated that genetic pathways modulate healthy lifespan in diverse species across great evolutionary distance and established that aging-related pathways constitute a target for intervention (Barzilai et al., 2012, Longo et al., 2015). Lifespan has been verifiably modulated by genetic, pharmacologic, and dietary interventions in multiple model systems.
Interventions that target aging pathways are capable of dramatically extending lifespan and, most importantly, health span, the period of life during which an individual is fully functional and free of chronic illness. There is overwhelming evidence that single gene mutations in nutrient-sensing pathways, such as insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling or the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathways, extend lifespan and health span in invertebrates. More importantly, these pathways have been evaluated in mammalian models, in which health span and lifespan have been extended by genetic manipulation or drugs. This raises hope for new interventions, including drugs that slow the aging process and slow the appearance of age-related disease by modulating conserved pathways of aging, as further discussed and developed in recent reviews.
The study “Targeting Aging with Metformin” (TAME)
This trial has been under reviews through several funding mechanisms and has received planning funding from the American Federation of Aging Research. An intended consequence of this effort is to create a paradigm for evaluation of pharmacologic approaches to delay aging. The randomized, controlled clinical trial we have proposed, if successful, could profoundly change the approach to aging and its diseases and affect healthcare delivery and costs. If TAME demonstrates that metformin modulates aging and its diseases, beyond an isolated impact on diabetes, it would pave the way for development of next-generation drugs that directly target the biology of aging.
Read more here: http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(16)30229-7.