Sometimes drugs developed to treat one disease turn out to be effective for other conditions. This is what happened with the experimental drug rentosertib from Insilico Medicine: it is being developed for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis, but researchers have found that it may also influence biological processes associated with aging... reports the website infohub.kz.
The drug blocks the protein TNIK, which is linked to the development of fibrosis. Notably, it was developed using artificial intelligence. The main focus of study is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which healthy lung tissue is gradually replaced by scar tissue, making it increasingly difficult for a person to breathe.
The scientists conducted a study analyzing data from 42 patients with this diagnosis. Blood samples were taken from participants several times, and 2,841 proteins were measured. The researchers then applied six different "proteomic aging clocks"—methods that estimate a person's biological age based on the set of proteins in the blood, rather than their date of birth.
All six models showed a reduction in estimated biological age in patients receiving rentosertib compared to placebo. The most notable result was observed at the fourth week of treatment: different models estimated the change at approximately 3–4 years, with one model showing up to six years. Changes were also found in proteins and signaling pathways related to cellular aging, inflammation, and metabolism.
In previous studies, rentosertib had already shown promising results in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In patients receiving 60 mg of the drug once daily, the maximum volume of air a person can exhale after a deep breath increased on average by 98.4 mL over 12 weeks, while in the placebo group the measure decreased by 20.3 mL.
According to the authors, the changes in aging markers may indicate that rentosertib's effects extend beyond the lungs themselves. However, the new study was small, so the potential anti-aging properties of the drug require further research. Some drugs whose potential benefits are broader than their original use include certain antidepressants: previously, Kursiv Health examined why they might be prescribed by gastroenterologists for gastrointestinal issues.