Longevity & AgingSemaglutide Started Late in Life Extends Lifespan and Slows Aging in Female Mice
Researchers at UC Berkeley treated 20-month-old female C57BL/6 mice with semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy — daily for 3 months or for the remainder of their lives. Even initiated late in life, semaglutide extended median lifespan from 742 to 834 days, a roughly 12% increase. Beyond longevity, 3-month treatment improved cognition, motor function, muscle strength, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity. The drug reduced multiple canonical hallmarks of aging including stem cell attrition, chronic inflammation, cellular senescence, and myeloid-biased hematopoiesis. Critically, many benefits paralleled — and in some domains exceeded — those of matched caloric restriction, supporting the idea that GLP-1 medicines act as caloric restriction mimetics through mechanisms beyond simple appetite suppression.
