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Ibuprofen could add years in your life

 

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Ibuprofen, a common over-the-counter drug used to relieve pain and fever, could hold the keys to a longer healthier life, according to a study by researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Publishing in PLoS Genetics on December 18th, scientists showed that regular doses of ibuprofen extended the lifespan of yeast, worms and fruit flies.

The World Health Organization includes ibuprofen on their “List of Essential Medications” needed in a basic health system. Although deemed relatively safe and commonly used, ibuprofen can have adverse side effects, particularly in the gastrointestinal tract and the liver at high doses.

Ibuprofen is associated with destabilization of Tat2p permease and inhibits tryptophan intake which are increase replicative lifepan of cells. Ibuprofen is also reduces daughter cell size while replication and prolongs G1 phase of cell cycle.

"Treatments given at doses comparable to those used in humans, extended lifespan an average of 15 percent in the model organisms. Not only did all the species live longer, but the treated flies and worms appeared more healthy," said Brian Kennedy, PhD, CEO of the Buck Institute.  "The research shows that ibuprofen impacts a process not yet implicated in aging, giving us a new way to study and understand the aging process."

Chong He, PhD,  a postdoctoral fellow at the Buck Institute and lead author on the paper, said the extended lifespan in the model organisms would be the equivalent to another dozen or so years of healthy living in humans.  “Our preliminary data in the worms showed that ibuprofen also extended their healthspan,” she said. “Healthy worms tend to thrash a lot and the treated worms thrashed much longer than would be normally expected. As they aged,  they also swallowed food much faster than expected.”

Ibuprofen is in the class of compounds known as NSAID’s - nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used for relieving pain, helping with fever and reducing inflammation.  It was created in the early 1960’s in England and was  first made available by prescription and then, after widespread use, became available over-the-counter throughout the world in the 1980s.

Reference: He et al, Enhanced Longevity by Ibuprofen, Conserved in Multiple Species, Occurs in Yeast through Inhibition of Tryptophan Import, PLoS Genet 10(12): e1004860. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004860


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