Longevity & AgingRapamycin Matches Dietary Restriction for Lifespan Extension — Metformin Falls Short
Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 167 papers and 911 effect sizes across eight vertebrate species to compare lifespan extension from dietary restriction (DR), rapamycin, and metformin. DR robustly extended lifespan across all measures. Rapamycin produced a significant lifespan extension comparable to DR, while metformin failed to show a consistent significant effect. Sex did not consistently moderate outcomes across treatments. The type of DR methodology (caloric reduction vs. fasting) did not meaningfully alter results. However, high heterogeneity, publication bias, and sensitivity to how lifespan was reported were important caveats. The findings position rapamycin as the stronger candidate DR mimetic for translational longevity research in vertebrates.
