Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Aging in Cologne (Germany) and the University College London (UK) showed that the effects of rapamycin, a promising anti-aging drug, have different effects between men and women.
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According to the description of the article published in the journal Nature Aging, the tested drug prolonged the lifespan of female fruit flies, but did not do so in males.
The study of the use of rapamycin also revealed that the development of pathological changes was delayed only in female flies. Because of this difference in response between females and males, the researchers concluded that biological sex is a key factor in the effectiveness of anti-aging drugs.
Although women's expectations are higher than men's, they may also suffer more frequently from age-related illnesses and adverse drug reactions.
“Our long-term goal is to make men live as long as women and also to make women as healthy as men at the end of their lives. But for that, we need to understand where the differences come from.”, explained Yu-Xuan Lu, from the Max Planck Institute for the Biology of Aging, one of the lead authors of the research.
Rapamycin is a drug used in cancer therapies and also after organ transplants. The drug is a cell growth inhibitor that can regulate the immune system. During the research, the medication was administered to male and female fruit flies, carrying out a comparative study of the effects between the biological sexes.
The test was also performed on mice, and revealed that females had increased autophagic activity after receiving a treatment with rapamycin.
“Previous studies found that females had greater responses to rapamycin in life span than males in mice; we have now discovered an underlying mechanism for these differences using flies.”, said Yu-Xuan Lu.
“Gender can be a decisive factor in the effectiveness of anti-aging drugs. Understanding the sex-specific processes that determine response to therapy will improve the development of personalized treatments.”, explained Linda Partridge of University College London, senior author of the study.
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