Experimental lung disease drug may slow aging by 3-4 years, study suggests

Key Points:

• Rentosertib, an experimental drug developed to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), showed potential to make patients appear biologically three to four years younger based on blood protein changes in a small clinical study.
• The study, involving 42 IPF patients over 12 weeks, used six different aging tests and found that rentosertib altered blood proteins in the opposite direction of normal aging, with the strongest effects after four weeks of treatment.
• Researchers caution that these preliminary results do not prove the drug can reverse aging or extend lifespan, as the findings are based solely on protein markers and the study had a small sample size limited to IPF patients.
• Side effects of rentosertib were generally manageable, including mild diarrhea and temporary liver enzyme increases, with ongoing trials aiming to optimize dosing for longer treatment durations.
• Rentosertib is now in a larger phase 3 trial in China involving over 300 patients, and further research including healthy older adults is needed to confirm any true anti-aging benefits.