ArticleAging cell2019
Acarbose improves health and lifespan in aging HET3 mice.
Article in Aging cell, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 97 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
97 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prenatal Maternal Stress and Infant Gut Microbiome in Human and Animal Studies: A Comprehensive Systematic Review.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Pooled it
- Repurposing effect of cardiovascular-metabolic drug to increase lifespan: a systematic review of animal studies and current clinical trial progress.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- A Mechanism-Based Framework for Anti-Aging Strategies: From Metabolic Regulation to Senotherapy and Stem Cell-Based Interventions.Aging cell · 2026Review
- Epigenetics in development, disease, and therapy: from mechanisms to clinical interventions.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Unraveling the Synergistic Inhibition of Human Maltase-Glucoamylase by Baicalein and Acarbose: Integrated Pharmacodynamics and Computational Insights.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Geroprotective interventions preserve trabecular bone during ageing in female mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Extension of lifespan by epicatechin, halofuginone and mitoglitazone in male but not female genetically heterogeneous mice.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Article
- Sex differences in response to longevity interventions.Ageing research reviews · 2026Review
- The tissue-specific effects of glucose-lowering drug targets on aging mediated through DNA methylation: a multi-omics genetic study.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Acarbose modulates microglial Pkm2 acetylation to reshape immunometabolism and preserve retinal neurons after ischemia-reperfusion.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- Acarbose improves cognitive function in a mouse model of normal aging but not Alzheimer's disease.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Dietary restriction in aging and longevity.Nature aging · 2026Review
- Integrative Omics Reveal Female-Specific Benefits of p16Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Aging rate indicators and the search for anti-aging drugs.Frontiers in science · 2026Article
- Canagliflozin Reprograms the Aging Hippocampus in Genetically Diverse UM-HET3 Mice and Attenuates Alzheimer's-Like Pathology.Aging cell · 2025Article
- Anti-Senescence Effect of Inhibiting Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 and α-Glucosidase in a Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Animal Model.Diabetes & metabolism journal · 2025Article
- Realistic expectations for changes to average human lifespan in the near future.Biogerontology · 2025Article
- Metabolic regulation of immunological aging.Nature aging · 2025Review
37 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
To follow-up on our previous report that acarbose (ACA), a drug that blocks postprandial glucose spikes, increases mouse lifespan, we studied ACA at three doses: 400, 1,000 (the original dose), and 2,500 ppm, using genetically heterogeneous mice at three sites. Each dose led to a significant change (by log-rank test) in both sexes, with larger effects in males, consistent with the original report. There were no significant differences among the three doses. The two higher doses produced 16% or 17% increases in median longevity of males, but only 4% or 5% increases in females. Age at the 90th percentile was increased significantly (8%-11%) in males at each dose, but was significantly increased (3%) in females only at 1,000 ppm. The sex effect on longevity is not explained simply by weight or fat mass, which were reduced by ACA more in females than in males. ACA at 1,000 ppm reduced lung tumors in males, diminished liver degeneration in both sexes and glomerulosclerosis in females, reduced blood glucose responses to refeeding in males, and improved rotarod performance in aging females, but not males. Three other interventions were also tested: ursolic acid, 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl) benzothiazole (HBX), and INT-767; none of these affected lifespan at the doses tested. The acarbose results confirm and extend our original report, prompt further attention to the effects of transient periods of high blood glucose on aging and the diseases of aging, including cancer, and should motivate studies of acarbose and other glucose-control drugs in humans.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.