# Interventions That Retard Mammalian Aging

> **NIH NIH U01** · JACKSON LABORATORY · 2024 · $1,770,002

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Identification of interventions that extend mouse lifespan provides new insights into mechanisms of longevity
determination in mammals and may lay the groundwork for eventual anti-aging therapies in humans. The NIA
Interventions Testing Program (ITP) evaluates drugs proposed to extend mouse lifespan by retardation of
aging or postponement of late life diseases. Interventions proposed by multiple collaborating scientists from the
research community are tested, in parallel, at three sites (The Jackson Laboratory, University of Michigan and
University of Texas), using very similar, standardized protocols, and using enough genetically heterogeneous
mice to provide 80% power for detecting changes in lifespan of 10%, for either sex, after pooling data from any
two of the test sites. One hundred and two such lifespan experiments, involving various doses of 66 distinct
agents, have been initiated in the first twenty years of the ITP. Thirty-six experiments have involved
comparative tests of multiple doses of effective agents, variable starting ages, or alternative dosing schedules.
Statistically significant effects on longevity, in one or both sexes, have been documented and then confirmed
for NDGA, rapamycin, acarbose, 17-α-estradiol (17aE2), and canagliflozin. Significant effects were also noted
for Protandim, glycine, meclizine, captopril, and astaxanthin. Lifespan trials are now underway for 25 new
agents. ITP survival results have also documented longevity benefits from four agents started in middle-age:
rapamycin, acarbose, 17aE2, and canagliflozin. A Collaborative Interactions Program (CIP) has provided
tissues from ITP drug-treated mice to an open, growing, international network of scientific collaborators,
meeting 26 requests from 17 distinct laboratories in the previous five-year period. Plans for the next five-year
period include additional lifespan ("Stage 1") studies, detailed studies ("Stage 2") of drugs found to increase
lifespan, transition from the CIP to an Interventions Biospecimens Repository, additional diagnostic specificity
in pathological assessments, inclusion of RNA-Seq data in all Stage 2 studies, and comprehensive
pharmacokinetic assessments of drugs found to increase lifespan, as well as continued collaborative work with
a network of scientists to study drug effects on postulated aging mechanisms and links to disease. Site-specific
studies at The Jackson Laboratory will add a tests for heart, kidney, and bladder function in Stage 2 studies,
and image analysis of tissues using machine learning. The work proposed should allow the ITP to continue to
make major contributions to mammalian aging biology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10877304
- **Project number:** 2U01AG022308-21
- **Recipient organization:** JACKSON LABORATORY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ronny Korstanje
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,770,002
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2003-04-15 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10877304

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10877304, Interventions That Retard Mammalian Aging (2U01AG022308-21). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10877304. Licensed CC0.

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