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Systematic review

Review of 19 human studies: rapamycin-type drugs improved some aging measures, not others

Lee and colleagues · The lancet. Healthy longevity · 2024

Original title: Targeting ageing with rapamycin and its derivatives in humans: a systematic review.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Mixed

Immune, heart and skin measures of aging improved. No clear effects on hormone, muscle or brain measures. People with age-related diseases had more infections and higher cholesterol and triglycerides.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Systematic review
Who or what was studied
19 studies · Healthy adults and adults with age-related diseases
What was tested
Rapamycin or related drugs (rapalogs), compared with control, across 19 human studies
What it measured
Several kinds of outcomes
Who has a stake
No stake declared
No competing interests declared.
Journal
The lancet. Healthy longevity, 2024
Source
PubMed record 38310895. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • •Sums up 19 studies found with a set search method, without pooling the numbers.
  • •Measured several kinds of outcomes.
  • ✓No competing interests declared.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a systematic review, and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: aging and age-related decline

    3

    1 benefit, 1 mixed, 1 no difference

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    2

    2 no difference

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    2

    2 benefit

  4. Population studies

    1

    1 no direction

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  6. Animals

    2

    2 benefit

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “Does rapamycin slow aging in people?”

Not shown in people.

Confidence: very low. Based on 16 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer
  • Quoted in “What we found”: A review of 19 human studies found gains in immune, heart and skin measures, but more infections and higher cholesterol in people with age-related diseases.
  • Part of the finding “Skin and body markers shifted in small studies”.
  • Part of the finding “Side effects showed up in some groups”.
  • Summed up in “What reviews found”: Summarised 19 human studies of rapamycin and related drugs. Found better immune, heart and skin measures, no effect on hormone, muscle or brain measures, and more infections and cholesterol in people with age-related diseases.
  • Marked as a key paper in the research timeline: Review of 19 human studies on aging.

Other reviews on this question

See all 16 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
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