Ozempic Shows Anti-Aging Effects in First Clinical Trial, Reversing Biological Age by 3.1 Years
Importance: 6 | # | aging, ozempic
A randomized controlled trial of 108 people with HIV-associated lipohypertrophy found that weekly Ozempic treatment for 32 weeks reversed biological age by an average of 3.1 years.
The study used epigenetic clocks to measure biological aging, showing the most pronounced anti-aging effects in the inflammatory system and brain, where aging was delayed by almost 5 years.
TIL about epigenetic clocks. I asked Claude 4.1 Opus about it:
DNA methylation involves adding small chemical groups called methyl groups (CH₃) to specific locations on your DNA, particularly at sites called CpG sites (where a cytosine nucleotide is followed by a guanine).
As we age, our methylation patterns change in predictable ways
- Hypermethylation: Some regions gain methyl groups over time, often silencing genes that were previously active
- Hypomethylation: Other regions lose methyl groups, potentially activating genes that should remain silent
- These changes accumulate like marks on a biological scorecard
Training the Clock: Scientists analyzed methylation patterns at hundreds or thousands of CpG sites across the genome in people of known ages. Using machine learning, they identified which specific sites show the most consistent age-related changes.
Patterns are identified and algorithms are developed to measure age. This age has good correlation with health outcomes, mortality risk, and age-related diseases better than chronological age alone. Also, this is tissue specific measure measurement. This ozempic trial also found anit-aging in some organs but not in others.
I had only known about telomere lenght measurement until now for measurement of age, and opus says "High variability, poor correlation with age, easily influenced by single factors".