Animal research: Slimming injection GLP-1 has anti-aging and longevity potential, and the effect goes beyond fasting

An animal study found that mice treated with GLP-1 drug lived longer. Schematic diagram, the characters in the picture have nothing to do with the news.

Liu Haowen, the director of Wilme Clinic, said in Threads "Dr. Liu Haowen" that many people think that "slimming injection (GLP-1)" is just a shortcut to lose weight. Research published in the top journal "Nature" in September 2026 tells us that it may be the "anti-aging and longevity drug" that humans have been looking for, and its effect even surpasses painful fasting and calorie restriction.

Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted experiments on 20-month-old female mice, which are equivalent to human aging. It was found that the median lifespan of mice treated with the GLP-1 drug was nearly 100 days longer than that of untreated mice (to 834 days versus 742 days).

It’s not just about living longer, it’s about living “younger.” The spatial memory and motor coordination of these mice were significantly improved, and new neurons even grew in the hippocampus. At the cellular level, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction and stem cell exhaustion are significantly reduced.

Liu Haowen said that research has found that: In the past, we thought that in order to activate anti-aging genes, we must be hungry (calorie restriction or fasting). This study points out that the anti-aging effects of GLP-1 go beyond simple caloric restriction. Mice that are strictly fasted will undergo metabolic adaptation due to hunger, resulting in a decrease in metabolic rate. But mice treated with GLP-1 maintained a normal metabolic rate in the absence of hunger signals and showed better memory and blood sugar control. This means that GLP-1 initiates a completely different anti-aging pathway than simply eating less.

Liu Haowen reminded that this is an animal study. When applied to humans in the future, we must still strictly monitor potential side effects such as "muscle loss". Finally, research reminds us that treating obesity is not only about the number on the scale, but also about directly and accurately attacking the root causes of chronic diseases and aging.