Ozempic ingredient may slow biological aging

Researchers from the University of California San Diego and partner institutions studied data from a 32-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving adults with HIV-associated lipohypertrophy, a condition marked by excess abdominal fat. Blood samples from 84 participants were included in the final analysis.

Scientists used epigenetic clocks, which assess chemical changes in DNA to estimate how quickly cells and body systems are aging.

Compared with the placebo group, participants receiving weekly semaglutide injections showed slower aging across several measures linked to inflammation and the health of the brain, heart, blood, kidneys, liver and metabolism. One measure, known as DunedinPACE, indicated a 9% slower pace of biological aging.

Researchers believe the effect may be connected to reductions in inflammation, metabolic stress and harmful fat deposits around internal organs.

Author Michael Corley says emerging data also suggest that GLP-1 drugs may reprogram certain cells in different organs, which could help explain why researchers see effects across multiple aging clocks.

However, Corley stressed that semaglutide should not be considered an anti-aging treatment.

“We are not saying that semaglutide reverses aging or makes people younger,” he said. “What we are seeing is a signal that it may slow some of the biological processes associated with aging.”

Researchers said larger and longer clinical trials are needed because the study involved a relatively small, HIV-specific group and aging outcomes were not the trial’s original focus.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that scientists had recreated a phenomenon inspired by energy extraction from a spinning black hole in a laboratory experiment that could pave the way for advances in communications, optics and quantum technologies.