Key Points:
- In two of his latest interviews, Sinclair mentions his unpublished data showing that NMN extends mouse lifespan.
- Mouse life extension results are the closest we have to human life extension results.
- Anti-aging agents rapamycin, acarbose, captopril, and glycine have reliably been shown to increase mouse lifespan.
David Sinclair’s research at Harvard Medical School focuses on finding ways to slow the aging process. Currently, there exist a select few anti-aging agents that are capable of doing so, and nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) may now be one of them.
On June 23, 2023, Sinclair appeared on the World of DaaS podcast with Auren Hoffman. During the conversation, Sinclair said,
“In fact, we’ve only just recently found [NMN] extends mouse’s lifespan. I haven’t published that yet.”
This means that Sinclair and his colleagues will soon publish the first study to show that NMN extends the lifespan of mice.
In a more recent interview with Dr. Peter H. Diamandis on August 24, 2023, Sinclair also mentioned the unpublished data. When speaking of the benefits of NMN, he said,
“What we saw in the mice, which was — haven’t published this but — increased lifespan, improved health, less frailty, protection from radiation….”
From this interview we get a bit more information with Sinclair mentioning that NMN not only increases lifespan but also improves health, reduces frailty, and protects against radiation.
Mouse Lifespan Studies Are the Closest We Have to Human Studies
Amongst other obstacles, determining if a drug or supplement extends the lifespan of humans is time-consuming and costly. A study of this kind would require individuals to consume an anti-aging supplement until death. Furthermore, all the study participants would have to reach the end of their lifespan before the study could be completed.
For example, if participants began taking an anti-aging agent around the age of 65, the study could potentially last 35 years or longer. This is assuming that some participants would live past the age of 100, which is more likely to occur if the agent in question works.
Therefore, lifespan studies are more easily conducted with animals that have a much shorter lifespan than humans. Thus far, mice have been the animal of choice due to their accessibility, small size, and 2-to-3-year lifespan. It follows that mouse life extension has become a highly sought-after outcome for scientists researching anti-aging agents.
Previous Studies Showing Boosting NAD+ Increases Mouse Lifespan
When it comes to extending mouse lifespan by boosting NAD+, no published data has yet shown that NMN increases the lifespan of naturally aged mice. However, NMN is not the only compound capable of countering age-related NAD+ decline. The NAD+ booster nicotinamide riboside (NR) has been shown to increase the lifespan of naturally aged mice by 5%.
Aside from NAD+ precursors like NMN and NR, NAD+ can also be boosted by compounds that stop its age-related increase in degradation. It is thought that one of the primary reasons for age-related NAD+ decline is an increase in the activity of an enzyme called CD38. Indeed, blocking CD38 with a small molecule called 78c was shown to increase mouse lifespan by 14%.
However, 78c only increased the lifespan of male mice, which seems to be the theme with many anti-aging agents. Furthermore, extending mouse lifespan with NR or 78c has not been repeated in other studies. To address the critical importance of repeating studies to arrive at more reliable conclusions, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) has created the Interventions Testing Program (ITP). The ITP conducts three studies from three independent sites with the same anti-aging agent.
To date, the ITP has identified four anti-aging agents capable of extending the lifespan of both male and female mice:
- Rapamycin: Males 23%, Females 26% (Miller 2014)
- Acarbose: Male 22%, Female 5% (Harrison 2014)
- Captopril: Male 13%, Female 6% (Strong 2022)
- Glycine: Male 6%, Female 4% (Miller 2019)
Will an NAD+ boosting compound join this list? NR was tested by the ITP, but not all three sites showed that it increased lifespan. However, the ITP has not yet tested NMN, making it a candidate.
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