A new study by researchers at Juntendo University's Graduate School of Medicine in Tokyo has revealed that a diabetes drug can eliminate senescent cells — which accumulate with age and contribute to hardening of the arteries and other diseases — in mice.
The study was published Thursday in British scientific journal Nature Aging.
The group says that this could pave the way for research on aging-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, as well as having potential for clinical application in human patients.
The team based their research on findings that calorie restriction extended the lifespan of monkeys and reduced the buildup of senescent cells. They investigated whether an SGLT2 inhibitor, a drug that promotes sugar excretion through urine, could remove aging cells by administering it to obese mice for a week.
The results showed that the drug successfully eliminated senescent cells in the mice's visceral fat and improved metabolic abnormalities related to obesity. By promoting the degradation of PD-L1, a protein that suppresses immune functions, the immune system was activated, leading to improvements of frailty and an extended lifespan.
Many drugs that target aging cells are used in cancer treatment and pose significant side effects, professor Toru Minamino, who led the research group, said. He emphasized the low incidence of side effects of the SGLT2 inhibitor.
"We believe this drug can be safely applied to humans and plan to proceed carefully with clinical research," he said.