Reader Mr. Lin used the website’s "Contact Me" on April 9, 2024 to inquire:
Hello Professor Lin, recently I have chatted with American friends and heard that many of their friends around him bought rapamycin as anti-aging health foods. A lot of positive information was found on the Internet. I would like to ask Professor Lin if it is true or a gimmick for the manufacturer?Before discussing how rapamycin is regarded as an anti-aging drug, I want to talk about how it was discovered. The main information I refer to is the essay The origin story of rapamycin: systematic bias in biomedical research and cold war politics published in 2022.
Resurrection Island is a world-renowned name because it has more than 800 giant stone statues full of mysterious colors. Local Aboriginal people call this island Rapa Nui, and Rapamycin is an antibiotic named after Rapa.
Resurrection Island is Chile's territory, and the Chilean government decided to build an airport on the island in the early 1960s (the Cold War era). This decision was not for travel or benefiting the residents of the island, but for building a satellite tracking station as a joint venture between the United States and Chile.
At that time, Stanley Skoryna (1920-2003), a surgeon who works in cancer research at McGill University in Canada, heard the news and thought it was an excellent opportunity to study the impact of the isolated population (the population of about 1,000 at the time of the Resurrection Island) and its environment after contacting the outside world. After numerous efforts, Stanley Skoryna finally won the assistance of the World Health Organization and received maintenance ship HMCS Cape Scott and his crew responsible for delivering researchers and equipment from the Royal Canadian Navy.
At the end of 1964, the Medical Expedition to Easter Island (METE, Resurrection Island Medical Expedition Team) finally took place. Stanley Skoryna brought about 40 medical and scientific personnel to the Resurrection Island, where they began to establish laboratories and living areas, and then worked from December 1964 to February 1965. They conducted extensive physical examinations of the island’s residents, and recorded and collected soil and animal samples covering the island. The person responsible for the
soil sample collection was Georges Nogrady (1919-2013), another doctor/bacterist at the University of Montreal in Canada. When he returned to Canada, he handed a soil sample to Claude Vezina, a colleague who is also a bacteria scientist. This colleague was also a researcher at the Canadian drug research and development company Ayerst Research Laboratories. The researcher worked with colleague Surendra Sehgal in the laboratory to separate Streptomyces hygroscopicus from soil samples and a new antibiotic it produces. They named the antibiotic Rapamycin and published the discovery in two papers in 1975:
Rapamycin (AY-22,989), a new antifungal antibiotic. I. Taxonomy of the producing stretchycete and isolation of the active principle [Rapamycin (AY-22,989), a new antifungal antibiotic. 1. Classification of chain bacteria and separation of active ingredients]
Rapamycin (AY-22,989), a new antifungal antibiotic. II. Fermentation, isolation and characterization [Rapamycin (AY-22,989), a new antifungal antibiotic. 2. Fermentation, separation and symbolism]
It is worth noting that although the samples mentioned in these two articles come from the Resurrection Island, the words "not mentioned" were collected by the Medical Exploration Team of the Resurrection Island, so the two important figures, Stanley Skoryna and Georges Nogrady, are of course unnamed on the list.
In 1970 when rapalosu was discovered, Ayerst Research Laboratories merged with American pharmaceutical company Wyeth, and the merged company was purchased by Viagra in 2009. In this way, Rapa Soluo has turned into a golden chicken that earns $1 billion a year for Viagra.
Unfortunately, the residents of the Resurrection Island did not get a penny, and Stanley Skoryna and Georges Nogrady had any knowledge underground, and they could only watch others eat rice noodles and shout.
In the previous article Rapatin - An anti-aging drug legend (I), I said that when Rapatin was just separated in the 1970s, it was found to have antifungal effects. However, subsequent studies found that it has an immune suppression effect, so in 1999, the US FDA approved it for use in Prophylaxis of organ rejection in patients receiving renal transplants.
Surrent studies have found that it can control many physiological effects through a protein kinase called mTOR, including cell growth and aging. In several animal models, including cysts, cysts, and mice, it shows that it can prolong life, so some experts in long-term medicine believe it should also prolong human life. However, since human life is much longer than cysts, cysts, or mice, it takes decades to know the results if you want to undergo human experiments. In other words, since there is no clinical trial, there is currently no scientific evidence that Rapati can prolong human life.
Rapaloplast is an anti-preventive drug (to prevent kidney transplant organ rejection), and since "aging" is not a disease (at least the FDA does not have such a definition), it is impossible for the FDA to approve rapaloplast for "treat aging." However, some doctors have begun to launch so-called "off-label" prescriptions to "treat aging" with customers (not seen as patients), and in fact, there are many ads that are not needed by the prescription on the Internet. This is why Mr. Lin, a reader, said, "A lot of friends and family buy rappas for themselves" (please note that this is illegal, but it cannot be controlled).
For this "out-label" use, a 2023 article reported the results of the survey. Please see the Evaluation of off-label rapamycin use to promote health span in 333 adults (an evaluation of 333 adults for the use of rapamycin outside labels to promote health care).
This study used online communication to collect data from adults who claimed to have taken rapapolin (333) and adults who claimed to have never used rapapolin (172) using Internet access. These data show that “people taking rapapol” and “people who don’t take rapapol” have improved their quality of life at a 3-to-1 ratio, including improvements in overall health, happiness, brain function, youth, confidence, peace of mind, anxiety and general pain. The two groups even agreed to the option "Family/Friends comments say I look good" at a 5-to-1 ratio.
However, this study has two fatal flaws. One is "the effect of the comfort agent of the user", and the other is "the unused person will certainly not be able to recognize that the quality of life has been improved" (note that they are not taking anything specific, so it is impossible to have "improvement"). So, I personally believe that this study does not prove that people taking rapamol have improved their quality of life.
KFF Health News published A ‘Fountain Of Youth’ Pill? Sure, If You’re A Mouse ("Fountain of Youth" pill? Of course, if you are a mouse).
Washington Post published on March 15, 2024 How a cheap, generic drug became a darling of longevity enthusiasts (a cheaper, high-priced, famous medicine became a darling of longevity enthusiasts). In it, Elena Volpi, a professor of long-term medicine at the University of Texas who specializes in rapamol, said that mice are different from humans from anti-pharmaceuticals, disease and drug reactions.
However, there is indeed one advantage for rapaposino, that is, people who take it may be less likely to be confused by a lot of "anti-aging drugs" or "anti-aging tools". Please read the following articles about "anti-aging drugs" and "anti-aging tools":
Snake Oil Promoter? I will soon give a heavy lecture on Li Jia-chan's long-lived drug
NMN's flattery and reality
NMN: Living to the age of 150!
American Shanglivier's patch, scientific certificate? Is anti-aging medicine a sick science? Can high pressure oxygen reverse aging?
Wild mountain revolves cells in natural reverse aging?
New discovery: gelatin promotes cell competition, can anti-aging drugs AgeLoc
Can testosterone make you rejuvenate and become a child?
Antioxidants can resist aging and disease?
Original text: Rapatin-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Anti-Age-Age-Age-IssueEditor: Gu Zihuan