Generally, yes - rapamycin by itself is very non-toxic to adult humans. There are no known overdoses on rapamycin, and people have tried (as much as 104 mg in a single dose I believe).
There are studies that have shown harm, but its due to the immune suppression issue, mostly in cancer studies where they are doing very high dosing of rapamycin or a rapalog (upwards of 10mg/day or as high as 45mg/day to 90mg/day…
Here is one such study, which Dudley Lamming pointed me towards. A young woman age 27 died in a clinical trail with everolimus when she was infected with sepsis:
In the short term dosing of rapamycin I think this safety profile is quite well documented, as covered in this paper that documented some people’s high dosings with no long term negative consqequences:
Please keep in mind that the longer term use of high dose rapamycin / everolimus has been identified as having some greater potential risk…
below are some examples in a high dose (e.g. 10mg/day) everolimus study for cancer patients (admitedly a serious and complex situation already, but … there was a death due to e-coli sepsis).
Rapamycin is not a risk-free drug, especially as you increase doses above the regular 5 to 8mg dosing once per week level.
The most common Adverse Effects (AEs) of everolimus therapy were laboratory abnormalities (100% of patients) and infection complications (83 episodes in 15 patients). Infectious episodes of pharyngitis (67%), diarrhea (44%), stomatitis (39%), and bronchitis (39%) were the most common infections. They were mostly mild or moderate in severity (grade 1–2).
In two cases, life-threatening conditions related to mTOR inhibitor treatment were encountered. The first was classified as grade 4 pleuropneumonia and Streptococcus pneumoniae sepsis, whereas the second was classified as death related to AE (grade 5) Escherichia coli sepsis.
A 27-year-old woman with TSC was started on everolimus
treatment because of AML of the left kidney
(60 Å~ 48 Å~ 36mm in size). The other signs of TSC were
facial angiofibroma, hypomelanotic macules of the skin,
and shagreen patch. The diagnosis of TSC was made
12 years earlier when the patient underwent nephrectomy
because of a large tumor of the right kidney. The
patient received everolimus at a dose 10 mg/day and the
trough concentrations of the drug ranged from 4.08 to
5.08 ng/ml. After 3 months of everolimus therapy, a
reduction in AML was observed (40 Å~ 31 Å~ 20mm in
size). During treatment, hypercholesterolemia (309 mg/
dl) and transient leukopenia (3.2 Å~ 109/l) with neutropenia
(1.34 Å~ 109/l) was observed. She also reported
oligomenorrhea. After a gynecological consultation, a
functional ovarian cyst was identified and contraceptives
were prescribed. However, 2 weeks later, she was
admitted to the gynecological unit because of subabdominal
pain and an ovarian cyst (64 Å~ 53mm in seize)
on ultrasound examination. Torsion of the ovarian cyst
was suspected. On the day of admission, WBC was
9.2 Å~ 109/l, the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was
6.6 Å~ 109/l, the hemoglobin level was 10.8 mg/dl, the
PLT count was − 275 Å~ 109/l, and the C-reactive protein
concentration was 8.0 mg/dl (normal < 5.0 mg/dl). The
patient was advised to continue intake of contraceptives
and everolimus. The next day, the general condition of
the patient aggravated. Her blood pressure was low (85-
/50mmHg). Her WBC and ANC decreased (WBC
−2.4 Å~ 109/l, ANC − 1.8 Å~ 109/l), whereas the hemoglobin
level (11.0 g/dl), the PLT count (185 Å~ 109/l), and coagulation
tests were normal. Computed tomography of the
abdomen and pelvis showed AML of the left kidney (size
as in the previous examination), an ovarian cyst measuring
65 Å~ 50 Å~ 40 mm, and fluid in the retroperitoneal
space with density of the blood. Further aggravation of
her general condition was observed. The patient was
transferred to the ICU and she died after 2 h with
symptoms of shock and multiorgan failure. Blood and
urine cultures collected when she was in the ICU were
positive for Escherichia coli.
Complications of mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor anticancer treatment among patients with tuberous sclerosis complex are common and occasionally life-threatening
https://sci-hub.se/10.1097/CAD.0000000000000207