Two Experimental Drugs Reduce Infections in the Elderly

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Despite the treatment being given for only six weeks, the positive effects lasted for a year.

Acombination drug therapy that inhibits the TORC1 pathway involved in immune responses boosted the health of people 65 years and older, according to research published in Science Translational Medicine yesterday (July 11). 

“This study is the first step to suggest we may be able to target some of the fundamental pathways contributing to aging to promote healthy aging, including healthy immune function, in older people,” coauthor Joan Mannick, the chief medical officer at resTORbio, Inc, tells WBUR.

After a year, the researchers found that subjects who received the combination therapy showed a 40 percent reduction in colds and respiratory infections. Additionally, the drugs augmented the body’s response to a flu vaccine by producing 20 percent more antibodies against the influenza virus.

“Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the results is that the protection lasted for the duration of the study, namely a year, even though the drug was only given for the first six weeks,” Aubrey de Grey, who studies aging at the SENS Research Foundation and was not involved in the study, tells WBUR. 

Given that respiratory infections and susceptibility to flu are both major issues for older people, these results are quite promising, according to The Guardian.