Inflammatory molecules (green) are found in liver tissue from aged mice.
Anissa A. Wijaya et al. 2024
Blocking an inflammatory molecule known as interleukin-11 (IL-11) extends the lifespan of mice, suggesting that drugs that block IL-11 may have anti-ageing effects in humans.
As we age, damage accumulates in our cells, triggering our immune system to release inflammatory molecules such as IL-11. While low levels of inflammation can protect us from disease and injury, excessive inflammation damages cells and is thought to accelerate aging.
“It’s like pouring gasoline on a fire,” says Stuart Cook, a professor at the Duke-NUS School of Medicine in Singapore. So reducing inflammation may help slow the decline of health that comes with aging.
To test this idea, Cook and his colleagues injected 37 mice with a drug that uses antibodies to block IL-11. The mice received injections every three weeks from the age of 75 weeks (equivalent to about 55 years in humans) until they died. Another group of 38 mice received a different antibody therapy that did not target IL-11.
The researchers found that blocking IL-11 extended the lifespan of both male and female mice by more than 20% and, in further experiments, animals that received anti-IL-11 therapy were less likely to develop cancer: fewer than 16% of treated rodents had tumors, compared with more than 60% of control animals.
The therapy also reduced cholesterol levels, frailty and body weight in treated animals, and improved muscle strength and metabolism. Together, these findings suggest that blocking IL-11 may ameliorate age-related decline in health and extend lifespan in mice.
But until clinical trials are conducted, Cook says it won’t be clear whether the same is true in humans. Although several trials are underway testing anti-IL-11 therapies in people with certain inflammatory diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis, none are investigating their potential anti-aging effects, he said.
It’s also important to keep in mind that some inflammation is normal as we age, says Shilpa Ravella of Columbia University in New York, which makes it hard to know who might benefit from these types of anti-inflammatory therapies, she says.
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