Senolytic Clinical Trials and the Future of Anti-Aging Drugs

Jump To Section

• Current Status of Senolytic Clinical Trials
• Senolytics in Clinical Practice: Evidence is Key
• Metformin as a Potential Geroprotector
• Critical Questions on Dosage and Treatment Duration
• Building the Future of Longevity Medicine
• Full Transcript

Current Status of Senolytic Clinical Trials

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, confirms that senolytic clinical trials are actively underway in humans. She states there are roughly 10 to 20 ongoing clinical trials investigating these novel compounds. These trials focus on drugs specifically designed to eliminate senescent cells.

Dr. Maier also notes that some existing medications, like Metformin, may exhibit senolytic side effects. The exact mechanisms behind these potential effects are not yet fully understood. Dr. Anton Titov, MD engages with this complex and rapidly evolving field of research.

Senolytics in Clinical Practice: Evidence is Key

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, delivers a crucial message about evidence-based medicine. She states unequivocally that senolytics are not yet part of standard clinical practice. These drugs have not been proven safe and effective for human use in anti-aging contexts.

Dr. Maier cautions patients against seeking out unproven senolytic treatments marketed online. She emphasizes that physicians only prescribe medications after rigorous validation. The current randomized control trials will determine if senolytics should become a future medical care component.

Metformin as a Potential Geroprotector

The conversation with Dr. Anton Titov, MD turns to the widely used drug Metformin. Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, an internal medicine specialist, prescribes it often for diabetes. Its safety profile is well-established after over 50 years of clinical use.

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, highlights the TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) study led by Dr. Nir Barzilai. This research aims to determine if Metformin can act as a geroprotector. The goal is to see if it can lower biological age and reduce the incidence of age-related diseases.

Critical Questions on Dosage and Treatment Duration

A major unknown surrounds the optimal dosing for potential senolytic effects. Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, explains that dosages for diabetes can go up to three grams daily. However, the effective dose for anti-aging purposes remains completely unknown.

Dr. Maier outlines several unanswered questions for Dr. Anton Titov, MD. Researchers must determine the correct dosage, frequency, and treatment duration for any senolytic. They also need to understand if the effects of eliminating senescent cells are long-lasting or require continuous treatment.

Building the Future of Longevity Medicine

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD, stresses that proving efficacy requires rigorous scientific methodology. This is fundamental to establishing longevity medicine as a recognized medical specialty. Gaining acceptance within the broader clinical community is a vital step forward.

Dr. Maier points to the importance of health insurance coverage for future interventions. This will make proven longevity treatments accessible to all insured individuals, not just those who can afford to pay out-of-pocket. This vision depends entirely on solid evidence from clinical trials.

Full Transcript

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: Are there senolytics in human clinical trials? If not, how long will it take for senolytics to start to be tested in humans?

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD: Yes, there are roughly 10 to 20 clinical trials of senolytics in humans at the moment. This is very specific to eliminate the senescent cells, which target senescent cells.

There are also some drugs which might have senolytic side effects, like metformin and other drugs, but we do not know why there is a senolytic function. It might be just a side effect because of mechanisms of drug action. It may lead to the elimination of senescent cells.

Senolytics are not yet being given in clinical practice because they are not proven. That's very important: in clinical practice, we only give drugs if they are proven. We must eliminate drugs with side effects.

And you already hear the voice of a physician liking evidence-based medicine. So be careful—just watching videos and looking at the web—if there are senolytics already on the market, because it's not proven yet that senolytics help humans.

Senolytics are in very good randomized control trials at the moment. We will evaluate if senolytics should be part of medical care in the next decade.

Dr. Anton Titov, MD: This is very interesting. You mentioned metformin.

Metformin has been in clinical use for over 50 years. Its safety profile is very well known. I understand in people with Type 2 diabetes, metformin is used at 1000 milligrams per day, split in two doses.

Sometimes medications have different effects depending on the dose. So for potential senolytic action of metformin, are the doses higher or lower, or the same as they are used in diabetes?

Dr. Andrea Maier, MD: We do not know yet. Look, I prescribe metformin very often. Internal medicine specialists use metformin in up to three grams a day.

But we do not know how much metformin we should prescribe for what. The study being run by Dr. Nir Barzilai at the Albert Einstein College in the US will hopefully at least give us clues if metformin is working as a geroprotector—meaning lowering the biological age and the incidence of age-related diseases.

But we are not yet there to say how long a certain drug should be taken, what the frequency should be, and what the dosage should be. Because it's not just taking a senolytic drug regularly once or twice a day, but also what is the duration for what kind of effect.

Is the effect long-lasting or not? This all has to be proven by using rigorous methodology.

It is very important to build up a specialty like longevity medicine. We must be recognized in the clinical surrounding we are in. Also, health insurers, for example, are going to pay for the interventions we would suggest, making it publicly available not only for the people who can pay but also for the people who are just insured.

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