AMA #2: 1:34 - end
Autism
MK: mTOR activation is associated with autism. Some mutations that lead to mTOR hyperactivation are associated with autism. There is good reason to think rapamycin will help with some forms of autism.
What theory of aging do you use to underpin your research?
Dr. Green: Earlier beings like reptiles had minimal senescence. Later animals, such as mammals, had senescence that would lead to aging for the improvement of genetic variation. Animals that die earlier are better able to adapt to a changing world. Senescence supercharged evolution.
MK: Alan (Green) is very much in the camp of programmed aging being evolutionarily beneficial.
Dr. B: hyperfunction theory: the same processes and pathways that drive development growth also drive aging, becoming hyperfunctional.
Dr. Green: these are not conflicting theories
Dr. B: SASP is a typical hyperfunction. Cell hyperfunction eventually leads to organ damage.
Dr. Green: Dr. B’s 2006 paper gives an example of bees: with the same genetic code, different bees can increase their lifespan 10-fold, such as the queen. If animals want to live longer, they can find a way to do it.
Is there a good way to monitor inflammation with blood tests?
Dr. Green: hard to monitor non-bacterial inflammation
MK: Not now, but he is cautiously optimistic in a few years we will have useful blood tests of inflammatory markers associated with aging. Anecdotally, many people taking rapamycin have reduced aches and pains.
Neutrophil reduction is a known effect of sirolimus. Is there is threshold of concern?
Dr. Green: below the normal range is a contraindication (of the sirolimus dose)
Does rapamycin reduce hearing loss and slow graying of hair?
Dr. Green: better at preventing hearing loss at an early stage
Any views on gene therapy, e.g. follistatin and telomerase?
Dr. B: telomerase knockout mice have a greatly reduced lifespan. In humans, there are some genetic diseases with a fault in telomeres, and these people die from bone marrow failure, but this is not typical aging. Telomere length does not limit lifespan. After a long life, say 200 or 300 years, it might be life-limiting.
MK: gene therapy as a life-extending strategy: concerns that it is too early and irreversible.
Dr. Green: would like to target epigenetic changes by genetic therapy
Do older mice show improvements when taking rapamycin?
MK: yes: delay in functional decline, and actually improving immune function, cognition, and in many tissues
Dr. Green: periodontal diseases respond to mTOR inhibition and to the removal of senescent cells, like it is the same thing
MK: rapamycin effects are more impressive than those of senolytics (fisetin, D+Q); clearly there is an overlap between the two approaches
Dr. Green: cardiac studies also show the role of senescent cells in promoting coronary disease. Senolytics and rapamycin do the same thing.
Tinnitus and Rapamycin
Dr. B: he would not be surprised if it would help
Dr. Green: prefers treatment before disease happens
Is rapamycin contraindicated for those who have recovered from active cancer?
Dr. B: it should not be for all. It is used for cancer therapy and prevents cancer.
Dr. Green: having recovered from cancer is a strong indication to take rapamycin. Rapamycin slows angiogenesis and cancer proliferation. It is a strong anti-cancer drug, more at the proliferation level than in the genesis of cancer.