How man’s best friend could hold the key to anti-ageing

 

 

 

 

Published: Saturday 8^th November, 2014

Source: Robin McKie, science editor

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/nov/08/anti-ageing-drugs-tested-on-dogs-cancer-heart

Science field: Medical Research

Drugs added to pet food may extend lives of dogs and lead the way to protect humans against cancer and heart conditions

 

Summary

Since this discovery was made in 2009 a group of scientists have been purposing a new set of recruits to test anti-ageing drugs: pet dogs. According to their plans, large canines will do. The researchers have concentrated their experiments on canines such as Golden retrievers, Labradors and German shepherd to test rapamycin, a macrolide produced by the bacterium Streptomyces hygroscopicus. These three dog’s breeds normally live between 10 and 15 years.

The researchers have started projects with aim of test anti-rejection drugs on humans to see if the drug could have a similar impact on men and women by protecting them against diseases of old age like as cancer and heart conditions. However, they acknowledge these could take many years to set up and produce results.

Rapamycin has extended the lives of mice by more than 10%. If we give it to 20-month-old mice, when they are in their equivalent of our middle age we can see benefits in terms of rejuvenating their bodies and increasing their lifespans. At that age, a mouse is the equivalent of a nine-year-old dog. So if we now start giving the drug to middle-aged dogs, we have a chance of finding out in only a few years that it works on larger animals. The equivalent for that age for humans is 60.

The drug is associated with some severe side-effects. These side-effects usually only occur when people high doses of this drug during transplant surgery. “The key point about the trial that we are planning is that we will use only very low doses of rapamycin which will be added to the dogs’ food over long periods, probably years” says Dr Matt Kaeberlein, of the University of Washington, in Seattle.

He insists on the idea of do not doing anything to the dogs they once have finished because they are just asking owners to cooperate with them to see if this drug, added to their pets’ diets, extends their lives significantly from middle age into senility.

 

Glossary

-          Ageing: the process of growing old or developing the appearance and characteristics of old age.

 

-          Pooch: a dog.

 

-          Rapamycin: sirolimus (also known as rapamycin) is a macrolide produced by a bacterium. It has immunosuppressant functions in humans and is used to prevent rejection in organ transplantation. It is effective in mice with autoimmunity and in children with a rare condition called autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome.

 

-          Trial: the act of testing to find out if someone or something is useful, valuable, etc.

 

-          Acknowledge: to recognize or admit the existence, truth, or reality of something.

 

-          Gain:  to get (something desired), esp. as a result of one's efforts.

 

-          Span:  the complete duration or extent.

 

Review

The discovery made in 2009, which has been developed for a long time, allows the possibility of living longer. This is one of the main causes of why scientists are doing experiments with mice and their necessity to try with large canines. The researchers are looking for a drug which benefits people by protecting them against diseases of old age like as cancer and heart conditions. Although it could have side-effects, many people agree with this kind of experiments and want to participate. Some of them will permit to experiment with their own pets or bodies but we must take for sure that they will want to know that their dogs are not being used as objects. On the other hand there is a group of people that does not like tests, the belief in animals’ rights, which is normal, because I also do, but I could handle it if I was a hundred per cent sure that my dog will not have any damage and there was the opportunity of treating cancer’s patients or people with several diseases.

 

 Written by Alba Pazos