In 2009, rapamycin was reported to increase the lifespan of mice when implemented later in life. This observation resulted in a sea-change in how researchers viewed aging. This was the first evidence that a pharmacological agent could have an impact on aging when administered later in life, i.e., an intervention that did not have to be implemented early in life before the negative impact of aging. Over the past decade, there has been an explosion in the number of reports studying the effect of rapamycin on various diseases, physiological functions, and biochemical processes in mice. In this review, we focus on those areas in which there is strong evidence for rapamycin’s effect on aging and age-related diseases in mice, e.g., lifespan, cardiac disease/function, central nervous system, immune system, and cell senescence. We conclude that it is time that pre-clinical studies be focused on taking rapamycin to the clinic, e.g., as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

2009年，据报道，在小鼠后期使用雷帕霉素可以延长小鼠的寿命。这一观察结果导致研究人员对衰老的看法发生了巨大变化。这是第一个证据表明，药物在晚年施用时可能对衰老产生影响，即在衰老产生负面影响之前不必在生命早期实施干预。过去十年来，研究雷帕霉素对小鼠各种疾病、生理功能和生化过程影响的报道激增。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注有强有力证据表明雷帕霉素对小鼠衰老和年龄相关疾病有影响的领域，例如寿命、心脏病/功能、中枢神经系统、免疫系统和细胞衰老。我们的结论是，现在是临床前研究重点关注将雷帕霉素应用于临床的时候了，例如，作为阿尔茨海默病的潜在治疗方法。