Five anti-aging drugs share a common metabolic signature across tissues

Researchers have identified a shared metabolic signature across five drugs that mimic calorie restriction and extend lifespan in mice, opening a path toward screening candidate anti-aging compounds. The team analyzed UM-HET3 mice treated between ages 4–12 months with rapamycin, acarbose, 17α-estradiol, canagliflozin, or caloric restriction, mapping metabolic changes across seven tissues using machine learning. Models trained on any four interventions correctly classified mice treated with the fifth unseen intervention, confirming that drugs with entirely distinct mechanisms converge on tissue-specific metabolic reprogramming. Ergothioneine, a dietary antioxidant, ranked as the most influential molecule: elevated in plasma and brain across all five treatments and in muscle in four of five. For the serious longevity consumer, this means future drugs can be validated metabolomically months before survival data emerges, compressing the discovery cycle for therapies that genuinely slow aging.