Semaglutide extended lifespan in older mice by 12% in new aging study
Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, extended lifespan and improved several measures of health in older mice, according to a new study from researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The experiment involved 20-month-old female mice. Animals treated with semaglutide showed improvements in measures related to memory, muscle function and blood glucose control, along with changes in several cellular and molecular markers associated with aging.
Median lifespan increased by 12%
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, mice receiving semaglutide had a median lifespan of 834 days, compared with 742 days in the control group — an increase of approximately 12%.
Researchers also investigated whether the effect could simply be explained by eating less. Mice receiving semaglutide voluntarily consumed about 24% fewer calories, so scientists compared them with animals given a calorie-matched diet. Lifespan increased by a similar amount, but semaglutide produced additional benefits in some tests, including spatial memory.
The study was published in Nature. However, the findings apply to mice and do not demonstrate that Ozempic, Wegovy or other GLP-1 drugs slow aging or extend lifespan in humans. Long-term clinical studies would be required to determine whether similar effects occur in people.
