A new study from the Interventions Testing Program (ITP) highlights beneficial effects on mouse lifespan with the compounds epicatechin (a plant compound in cocoa, red wine, and tea), halofuginone (a protein synthesis inhibitor) and mitoglitazone (an insulin sensitizer). The Barshop Institute is one of 3 sites that make up the ITP.
Extension of lifespan by epicatechin, halofuginone and mitoglitazone in male but not female genetically heterogeneous mice
Randy Strong, James F Nelson, Molly A Bogue, Jerry R Colca, Martin Denzel, Vivian Diaz, Brian N Finck, Vadim N Gladyshev, Steve Horvath, Nisi Jiang, Tracy Keller, Rolf F Kletzien, Ron Korstanje, Navasuja Kumar, Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, Elizabeth Fernandez, Andrzej Galecki, Brett Ginsburg, Melissa Han, Catherine Kaczorowski, Scott Leiser, Marisa Lopez-Cruzan, Ken Raj, Peter C Reifsnyder, Nadia A Rosenthal, Susanna Rosi, Anastasia Shindyapina, Peter Stacpoole, Adam B Salmon, Alexander Tyshkovskiy, Peter Walter, Malcolm Whitman, Richard A Miller, David E Harrison
Geroscience. 2025 Sep 19. doi: 10.1007/s11357-025-01881-6. Online ahead of print.
Abstract:
Mice bred in 2021 were tested by the Interventions Testing Program (ITP) for possible lifespan benefits of 2BAct (2BA), dichloroacetate (DCA), Epicatechin (EPI), Forskolin (FSK), Halofuginone (HAL) and Mitoglitazone (MIT). All agents were administered in the diet ad libitum beginning at 7 months of age. In male mice, EPI increased median lifespan by ~ 5%, and HAL and MIT each increased median lifespan by ~ 9%. EPI and HAL, but not MIT, increased 90% survival. In addition to adding 3 new agents to the list of interventions identified by the ITP that extend lifespan, this report continues the strong male bias in the efficacy of life-extending drugs identified so far.
Keywords: Epicatechin; Genetically heterogeneous mice; Halofuginone; Mitoglitazone; Survival.