A new ‘holy grail’ drug with the potential to extend lifespan by up to 25% is a “phenomenal finding” with many wide-ranging implications, a leading immunologist has said.

Scientists at Imperial College in London have found that blocking a protein that promotes inflammation in the body can lead to longer life, reduced frailty and increased metabolism.

Researchers gave mice an antibody injection to block the IL-11 protein when they were 75 weeks old – which is roughly the equivalent of 55 in human years.

The mice that were given the injection went on to live an average of 155 weeks – 35 weeks longer than those that were not.

The mice that were given the injection were also visibly healthier, with fewer cancers, reduced muscle wastage, increased strength and a reduction in the usual signs of ageing and frailty.

Researchers say the findings “raise the tantalising possibility that the drugs could have a similar effect in elderly humans”.

While human tests have yet to be carried out, the researchers note that drug candidates that block IL-11 are already undergoing human trials against cancer and fibrosis.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Trinity Experimental Immunology Professor Kingston Mills said the results are “incredibly exciting”.

“There is an immune molecule called interleukin 11,” he said. “It's a type of cytokine.”

“Cytokines are the messenger molecules of the immune system and this particular one is involved in inflammation.

“They discovered, by serendipity, that the mice that got older had more of this particular molecule and then they wondered if they could block it, what might happen to the mice.

The mice involved in the study. Those on the left were given protein blocking antibodies while those on the right we not. Image: MRC Laboratory of Medical Science / Duke-NUS Medical School

“They blocked it and they found that the mice lived longer – by up to 25%.

“They had much better muscle mass, they had less inflammatory diseases and they had lower cholesterol.

“The mice that were given the drug lived up to 150 weeks, while the ones that weren’t given it lived only 120 weeks.

“This is a phenomenal finding which has [many] implications.”

Ageing

The study includes video footage showing the difference between mice that were given the protein and those that were not.

The untreated mice had greying patches on their fur and were suffering from hair loss and weight gain.

Meanwhile, the treated mice had glossy coats and were more active.

Two mice involved in the Imperial College study. Image: Nature

“I saw the pictures myself this morning and it is truly amazing,” said Prof Mills.

“Now, before people get too carried away with the idea that we're all going to take this drug and live to 120, it's not as simple as that.

“This is an injectable drug; It's not like popping a pill every morning.

“People might be familiar with drugs to treat cancer called immunotherapy, which are injected every, you know, three weeks or so and the same for treating things like arthritis or multiple sclerosis, where they get these, monoclonal antibody-based drugs.

“So it's not a trivial thing and it’s very expensive as well.

“Making drugs is not cheap, so it's not something that's going to be given to the whole population to stop them aging.”

The Imperial College researchers say there is now a “real opportunity” to translate their findings into clinical therapies for humans.

The study was published in the journal Nature.

You can listen back to Prof Mills here: