Research area

Longevity research

Compounds studied in longevity research research: what each trial measured, and links to the sources.

NAD+

Clinical evidence

Trials consistently show NAD+ boosting is safe and reliably raises NAD+ levels. Evidence that this translates into a measurable anti-aging benefit is still limited and mixed.

Over a dozen human trials (up to 26 weeks, one 2-year study) consistently show NAD+ precursors are safe and well-tolerated, and reliably raise blood NAD+ levels (roughly 2x after 14 days of NR/NMN supplementation). Evidence for the anti-aging benefit this is meant to produce is weaker than the safety data: one trial found no cognitive improvement over placebo, and a broader review found "clear evidence for antiaging effects... is still scarce," with some limited efficacy shown for metabolic health and skin cancer incidence specifically.

Sources

SS-31 (Elamipretide)

Clinical evidence

Real clinical trials exist and show benefit, specifically in people with diagnosed mitochondrial disease. Trials in broader populations (heart failure, general myopathy) did not meet their endpoints.

18 human clinical trials have been run. Real successes exist, specifically in people with defined mitochondrial disease: patients with primary mitochondrial myopathy showed a dose-dependent improvement on the 6-Minute Walk Test (51.2m improvement vs. 3.0m placebo at the highest dose); 48-week treatment in Barth syndrome improved walk-test performance, symptom scores, and heart physiology. Trials in heart failure and general mitochondrial myopathy populations did not meet their endpoints. Important caveat: the positive results are specific to rare, diagnosed mitochondrial disease populations, and apply to those populations; a generally healthy person is a different context.

Sources

Epithalon

Community evidence

Human cell research (rather than living-patient trials) shows the compound can activate telomerase in a lab setting. Evidence in living people remains to be established through controlled trials.

Developed in Russia by Khavinson's lab and studied for over 30 years there. Real human-derived research exists: Epithalon increased telomerase activity in lymphocytes taken from human donors aged 25–88. That is cell-culture research using human-derived cells, so it measures activity in the dish rather than an outcome in a living person. Large-scale randomized human trials remain to be run, and the compound has yet to go through Western regulatory testing.

Sources

MOTS-c

Community evidence

Human studies show MOTS-c naturally correlates with better metabolic markers and rises with exercise. The human data describes MOTS-c as the body produces it; testing it as an administered compound is still an open question.

Human research exists and is observational rather than a treatment trial: exercise raises circulating MOTS-c levels in humans; lower plasma MOTS-c correlates with higher fasting insulin, HbA1c, and BMI; levels are lower in Type 1 diabetes patients and in obese children. The human evidence therefore describes what MOTS-c does naturally in the body. Whether administering it reproduces those associations remains an open question.

Sources

This is a summary of published and preclinical research, not medical advice. Every entry describes what a study found, not what you should do. These compounds are supplied for laboratory research only.

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