We use essential cookies (authentication, your saved goals/stack) by default. With your permission we’ll also enable privacy-respecting analytics (Vercel Web Analytics, anonymous load-time metrics) and error-replay diagnostics (Sentry — DOM snapshots only when an error fires) so we can fix bugs faster. Learn more about cookies
Rapamycin (sirolimus)
An FDA-approved mTOR-inhibitor immunosuppressant (sirolimus, Rapamune) taken off-label for longevity. It is the most robustly lifespan-extending compound in animal studies across species, but human longevity benefit is unproven — the human data are short-term immune/biomarker trials, and it carries real immunosuppression risks. A prescription drug, not a supplement.
Prescription medication — not a dietary supplement
Rapamycin is a prescription (or investigational) drug, not a supplement. It is included here for reference because people research and discuss it (often used off-label) — not as a recommendation. Take it only under a qualified clinician's supervision and only as prescribed; do not source it from grey-market vendors, where identity, purity, and dosing are unverified. The evidence below reflects its clinical trials.
What the evidence says
Rapamycin doesn't have enough studies with structured effect-size data yet to pool a verdict. Browse the studies below for individual findings.
Most evidence is from high-quality meta-analyses and randomised trials published 1998–2026 with a typical study size of 218 participants.
Based on 348 studies · 28 meta-analyses · 283 RCTs · 242 total participants
Confidence
High confidenceBy outcome
Rapamycin is the most reproducible lifespan extender in animal models (including late-life dosing in the NIA ITP) and has positive short-term human immune-function trials, but no human study shows it extends lifespan or healthspan, and continuous dosing carries real immunosuppression risks — so the longevity use remains promising-but-unproven and off-label.
281 randomised trials
92% were about Rapamycin in an audit of 50 of them
Every randomised or controlled trial of Rapamycin indexed in PubMed, not a hand-picked subset. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews are deliberately excluded from this count: most of them cover many compounds at once, so counting them would inflate it.
PubMed · as of Sep 2026
164 trials ongoing or recruiting · 588 completed on ClinicalTrials.gov
250 of the completed trials have posted results
Registered trials show research momentum for Rapamycin, not proof of effect — a registration is a plan, and posted results are sponsor-reported, not peer-reviewed. They are never counted toward the evidence rating above.
Browse these trials on ClinicalTrials.govClinicalTrials.gov · as of Nov 2026
Rapamycin (sirolimus) is a macrolide produced by Streptomyces hygroscopicus, FDA-approved as an immunosuppressant to prevent transplant rejection and in drug-eluting stents.
It is the best-validated pharmacological lifespan extender in geroscience: inhibiting the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR, specifically mTORC1) it mimics aspects of caloric restriction, enhancing autophagy and dampening anabolic/growth signaling.
In the NIA Interventions Testing Program, rapamycin extended median and maximal lifespan in genetically heterogeneous mice even when started late in life — a result reproduced across yeast, worms, flies and mice, making mTOR inhibition the most reproducible aging intervention known.
The honest gap is human longevity evidence: there are NO trials showing rapamycin extends human lifespan or healthspan.
What exists are short-term randomized trials of mTOR inhibitors (rapamycin and the analog everolimus) showing improved vaccine response and immune function in older adults, plus small safety/biomarker studies (e.g. the PEARL-type trials) suggesting intermittent low doses are tolerated.
Continuous immunosuppressive dosing carries real risks — immunosuppression/infection, stomatitis (mouth ulcers), hyperlipidemia, glucose intolerance, and impaired wound healing — which is why the longevity community uses intermittent (e.g. weekly) low doses, a regimen that is itself unproven.
Rapamycin is a prescription drug used off-label for longevity; it is not a dietary supplement, and self-dosing without monitoring is risky. The score reflects exceptional preclinical evidence and promising human immune data against an absence of human longevity outcomes and genuine immunosuppression risk.
Rapamycin binds FKBP12 and allosterically inhibits mTORC1, the central growth-signaling hub. Reducing mTOR signaling mimics aspects of caloric restriction.
Lower mTOR signaling de-represses autophagy, clearing damaged proteins and organelles — a proposed driver of the longevity effect.
Dampened protein synthesis and cell growth shift cells toward maintenance — beneficial for aging but the basis of immunosuppression and wound-healing effects.
How Rapamycin works — from molecular targets to health outcomes. Click an edge to see supporting research.This visualization is in beta — pathways are being refined and expanded.
Avoid — mTOR inhibition is contraindicated in pregnancy.
Monitor glucose and lipids; mTOR inhibition can worsen both, especially continuous dosing.
It can impair wound healing and suppress the immune system. Tell the surgical team and your prescriber before an operation or procedure, and follow the prescriber's plan for pausing and restarting it.
Strong CYP3A4 inhibitors (ketoconazole, clarithromycin, grapefruit) sharply raise levels; inducers (rifampin) lower them. Dose must account for this.
Immunosuppression can blunt vaccine response and makes live vaccines inadvisable during continuous dosing.
Additive immunosuppression and infection risk.
Tip: Dose-related; often improves with intermittent dosing.
Tip: Monitor lipids; more pronounced with continuous dosing.
Tip: Monitor for infection; hold during acute illness. Before an operation or procedure, tell the surgical team and your prescriber, who decides whether and when to pause it.
Tip: Before an operation or procedure, tell the surgical team and your prescriber. Any pause and restart follows the prescriber's plan, not a self-directed break.
Rapamycin has an evidence score of 4.5/10 — emerging evidence based on 348 indexed studies, including 1 meta-analysis. An FDA-approved mTOR-inhibitor immunosuppressant (sirolimus, Rapamune) taken off-label for longevity. It is the most robustly lifespan-extending compound in animal studies across species, but human longevity benefit is unproven — the human data are short-term immune/biomarker trials, and it carries real immunosuppression risks. A prescription drug, not a supplement. Representative study: PMID 27519886.
Dosing for Rapamycin: No endorsed daily dose. Sirolimus is a prescription immunosuppressant: in the US label's low-to-moderate-risk transplant regimen, 6 mg is a one-time loading dose followed by 2 mg a day, adjusted to blood trough levels by the transplant team (US sirolimus label, Dosage and Administration). Off-label longevity protocols use intermittent low weekly doses (e.g. ~5–6 mg once weekly) under physician supervision, unproven and not an approved regimen. The PEARL trial's exposure was not verified here, so no weekly figure is endorsed or converted to a daily one.
Timing is flexible for Rapamycin — consistent daily use matters more than the time of day. Absorption varies with food; consistency matters more than timing.
No consumer dose of Rapamycin is endorsed, so there is no dose at which it can be called safe. Talk to a healthcare provider before taking it. Reported side effects include infection (immunosuppression), hyperlipidemia, impaired wound healing. How often they occur is not established for all of them. Use caution if any of these apply to you: Active infection; Pregnancy (breastfeeding: specialist use only, not an optional longevity supplement); Significant immunosuppression or upcoming surgery (wound healing).
CoQ10
Likely helpsA lipid-soluble antioxidant central to mitochondrial energy production, with the strongest trial support for fertility/IVF outcomes and heart failure.
Lactoferrin
Too few graded studiesA multifunctional iron-binding glycoprotein from milk with broad antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulating properties.
Beta-Glucans
Likely helpsPolysaccharides from yeast, mushrooms, or oats that train innate immune cells to respond faster to infections and pathogens.
Everolimus
Too few graded studiesA rapamycin analog (rapalog, RAD001) approved as an oncology drug (Afinitor) and transplant immunosuppressant (Zortress). It is the mTOR inhibitor with the cleanest human geroscience signal: randomized trials in older adults showed it improved vaccine response and reduced infections — an immune-aging benefit, NOT demonstrated lifespan extension. A prescription immunosuppressant, not a supplement, and its later phase-3 respiratory-illness sibling trial missed its endpoint.
Explore: Best supplements for Vitality & Longevity
Reviewed by Dr. Baher Al Hakim · Last reviewed June 2026 · evidence from 348 studies · how we score · editorial policy
This information is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before starting, stopping, or changing any supplement or medication.
Tap node to isolate • Pinch to zoom • Tap edge for research