Rapamycin, but not resveratrol or simvastatin, extends life span of genetically heterogeneous mice

Miller RA, Harrison DE, Astle CM, Baur JA, Boyd AR, de Cabo R · The Journals of Gerontology, Series A

Rapamycin extended median survival by an average of 10 per cent in males and 18 per cent in females, with maximum lifespan up at each of the three test sites, and attenuated the age-related decline in spontaneous activity in males but not females. Resveratrol had no significant effect on survival in either sex at either dose, and neither did simvastatin. The resveratrol doses were two- to eightfold higher than the ones used in the high-fat-diet study that first reported a survival benefit.

Population

Genetically heterogeneous mice at three independent test sites (NIA Interventions Testing Program)

Intervention

Rapamycin in food from 9 months of age; resveratrol at 300 and 1,200 ppm in food from 12 months; simvastatin at 12 and 120 ppm from 10 months

Comparator

Control diet

Limitations

Mice on standard chow, not the high-calorie diet where resveratrol's survival benefit was first reported — though the authors note that the same earlier programme found no survival advantage on a standard diet either, so this confirms rather than contradicts it. Healthspan endpoints other than survival were limited.