Rapamycin Increases Mortality in db/db Mice, a Mouse Model of Type 2 Diabetes

We examined the effect of rapamycin on the life span of a mouse model of type 2 diabetes, db/db mice. At 4 months of age, male and female C57BLKSJ-lepr db/db mice (db/db) were placed on either a control diet, lacking rapamycin or a diet containing rapamycin and maintained on these diets over their life span. Rapamycin was found to reduce the life span of the db/db mice. The median survival of male db/db mice fed the control and rapamycin diets was 349 and 302 days, respectively, and the median survival of female db/db mice fed the control and rapamycin diets was 487 and 411 days, respectively. Adjusting for gender differences, rapamycin increased the mortality risk 1.7-fold in both male and female db/db mice. End-of-life pathological data showed that suppurative inflammation was the main cause of death in the db/db mice, which is enhanced slightly by rapamycin treatment.

Source: Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences - June 13, 2016 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Sataranatarajan, K., Ikeno, Y., Bokov, A., Feliers, D., Yalamanchili, H., Lee, H. J., Mariappan, M. M., Tabatabai-Mir, H., Diaz, V., Prasad, S., Javors, M. A., Ghosh Choudhury, G., Hubbard, G. B., Barnes, J. L., Richardson, A., Kasinath, B. S. Tags: Original Article Source Type: research