A mineral supplement extended life in male mice by about 7%

In a study published on 6 November in Nature Aging, a team led by researchers at the University of Chicago gave vanadyl sulfate, a vanadium salt that is already sold as a mineral supplement, to old male laboratory mice in their drinking water for three months. Median survival rose to 952 days, against 886.5 days in mice given plain water: about two extra months, or roughly 7%. The group was small, 19 treated mice and 20 controls, and only males were followed to the end of life.

How the substance was found

The team screened nutrients that normally circulate in the blood for compounds that kill senescent cells, the damaged cells that stop dividing, accumulate with age and release inflammatory signals. Drugs with this effect are called senolytics. Vanadyl sulfate came out of that screen: in cell cultures it killed senescent human cells more readily than healthy ones.

The authors trace the selectivity to the chemistry of the senescent cell. Its proteins carry fewer reactive cysteines, and oxidised glutathione builds up inside it because an enzyme that recycles it, glutathione reductase, is turned down. Vanadyl sulfate pushes such a cell further: proteins misfold and clump, and the cell dies. Healthy cells, without that stored oxidative load, were affected much less in these experiments.

What changed in old mice beyond lifespan

The lifespan experiment started when the mice were about 16 months old. Besides survival, the treated animals hung on longer in a hanging endurance test, put on less fat without losing lean mass, and showed fewer senescence markers in several tissues. In female mice, a three-month course gave similar gains in endurance, metabolism and senescent cell load, but female lifespan was not measured. In young mice, the treatment had no effect on endurance or body fat, which fits the idea that it acts on cells that pile up with age.

Why this is still far from people

All intervention results come from mice and cell cultures. The paper also analysed de-identified liver tissue from nine human donors, but it did not test treatment in people. The lifespan result rests on 39 male C57BL/6J mice, and the authors say that the mechanism behind lifespan extension remains unknown.

The study did not assess long-term safety in people. Its authors say that comprehensive toxicity evaluation under long-term exposure is needed; the experiment gives no basis for taking a supplement. Anyone considering it should discuss it with their doctor first.

One author is listed as an inventor on a pending US patent application on vanadyl sulfate for age-related diseases. The work was funded in part by grants from the US National Institutes of Health.

Earlier senolytics show why this boundary matters. Dasatinib plus quercetin extended remaining lifespan in very old mice in 2018. Human studies have been small and disease-specific; a 2026 systematic review found preliminary changes in selected functional outcomes and biomarkers, but insufficient evidence of clinical efficacy or long-term safety.

Sources

• Wu R, Yang F, Li J, et al. Altered protein cysteine reactivity in senescent cells is a vulnerability for senolysis to ameliorate aging. Nature Aging, 6 November 2026. doi:10.1038/s43587-026-01253-5, PubMed 42995257

• Xu M, et al. Senolytics improve physical function and increase lifespan in old age. Nature Medicine, 2018. doi:10.1038/s41591-018-0092-9, PubMed 29988130

• Trivedi H, et al. Therapeutic reversal of cellular senescence: A systematic review of senolytics, senomorphics and anti-ageing therapies in human clinical trials. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2026. doi:10.1002/bcp.70871, PubMed 42834340

This article is for information only and does not replace a consultation with a doctor.