Researchers at USC Dornsife have found that mifepristone, a commonly used drug to end early pregnancies, may also extend lifespan.
New research from biologists at the University of South California Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences reveals that mifepristone, a drug best known for its use for ending early pregnancies, might also extend lifespan. Mifepristone, which is also used to treat Cushing’s disease and certain cancers, has caught the attention of scientists exploring ways to promote longer, healthier lives.
Mitophagy is like a cellular “cleanup” process in which damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria — the cell’s energy producers — are broken down and recycled. Impaired mitophagy has been linked to aging and age-related diseases, while increased mitophagy is believed to be a factor in rapamycin’s life-extending effects.For the first time, the researchers could noninvasively measure mitophagy in fruit flies. They found that mifepristone increased mitophagy to the same extent as rapamycin.
The fact that mifepristone — a drug already approved for various medical uses — can boost mitophagy points to its potential as an anti-aging treatment, added Tower, whose previous research has shown anti-aging benefits. Future research must determine whether the effects observed in fruit flies can be replicated in humans, said Tower.
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