Benefits for mice
The researchers also experimented on Black 6 mice. One group of 12-month-old mice was given glibenclamide, another was given NMN, and a third served as a control group. At 26 and 27 months of age, the glibenclamide group had significantly less frailty than either of the other groups. Mice given NMN appeared to live slightly longer on average, but the effect was not statistically significant; mice given glibenclamide, on the other hand, lived significantly longer.
Another experiment found that, while its physical benefits were not apparent at this age, glibenclamide reduces liver fibrosis and senescence in 20.5-month-old mice. In these animals, the drug was found to have significant effects on H3K27me3 but not H3K4me3.
While its anti-aging effects have not been tested in human beings, glibenclamide is a drug that is already being prescribed in the clinic. If these beneficial effects can be confirmed in human beings, this drug might be more widely prescribed to slow cellular senescence, particularly in the liver. The researchers also suggest that derivatives of this drug could be developed to more precisely target MDH2 to further slow cellular senescence.
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