Questions about centella asiatica (Gotu Kola), rapamycin and telomerase

  1. Gotu Kola is a potent activator of telomerase, according to some sources it can increase it 8 fold.

  2. Rapamycin INHIBITS telomerase.

Source: Rapamycin inhibits telomerase activity by decreasing the hTERT mRNA level in endometrial cancer cells - PubMed

Does this mean the two would cancel each other out? Since rapamycin inhibits telomerase and it’s well established that rapamycin extends lifespan, which of the following is true:

A) inhibiting telomerase is part of what helps rapamycin extend lifespan
B) inhibiting telomerase is a negative, but the positives of rapamycin simply overpower this fact
C) inhibiting telomerase (at least to the extent that rapamycin does) has no impact on longevity

Also in general what do you guys think about centella asiatica be it paired with rapamycin or otherwise? In an anti-aging sense or just broadly speaking.

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I would think A) is untrue, B) is not necessarily, but can be true and C) is untrue.

I think the main benefit ot telemorase is on improving mitochondrial efficiency. Mitophagy stimulated by Rapamycin also does this. It may be that Rapamycin can supplant telemorase, but I personally take the view that I do not want Rapamycin to be active all of the time.

During the times Rapamcyin is not active telemorase is in a better position to function. However, we don’t know that Rapamycin inhibits telemorase in all cells.

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C) probably untrue, because telomerase is also linked to cancer. Many cancer cells reactivate telomerase, allowing them to divide indefinitely and become “immortal”(NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms)

B) probably untrue as well for the same reasons as C) Inhibiting telomerase is a positive in some situations.

A) probably true in some situations when cancer is present

Conclusion: be careful with supplements.

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Gotu Kola is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is a Yanq Qi herb. AIUI the Yang Qi herbs are AMPK activators in various ways. On a cyclical basis I think that is a useful thing

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Are there any good, successful mouse longevity studies with Gotu Kola?

I’ve looked and I can’t find ANY longevity studies using gotu kola for ANY species.

This site has a large list of longevity studies and you can search by compound:

https://genomics.senescence.info/

Gotu kola/centella asiatica isn’t on there, so it might not have been tested. Strange given how it’s been proven to lengthen telomeres (thus reversing one of the 12 hallmarks of aging). Maybe there’s something i’m missing here…

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This study details the effect on telomerase of a number of substances including centenella.
If I read the graphs correctly higher tested concentrations give a lower effect.
This study was done five years ago. Strange there has been no follow up??

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