Rationale and design of STAMINA: Senolytics to alleviate mobility issues and neurological impairments in aging, a geroscience feasibility study

The process of cellular senescence is hypothesized to play a critical role in the development of age-related mobility and cognitive impairments, both of which precede the development of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, senolytic compounds that eliminate senescent cells represent an alternative strategy that may help improve mobility and cognition in older adults; however, clinical trials are lacking. The goal of this paper is to describe the rationale and study design of a 12-week single arm, open label, pre-post pilot study that administers intermittent doses of two senolytic compounds, Dasatinib and quercetin (DQ), in 12 older adults ≥65 years with slow gait speed (<1.0 m/s) and mild cognitive impairment. Eligible participants are asked to take 1250 mg of quercetin and 100 mg of Dasatinib orally once a day for 2 days every 2 weeks, for 6 cycles over 12 consecutive weeks. Both physical and cognitive functional assessments are administered before treatment, as well as 6- and 12- weeks after treatment. Blood and urine samples are taken pre- and post-treatment to assess biomarkers of cellular senescence. The primary outcomes of this trial are feasibility and safety of the intervention, as well as preliminary efficacy on several clinical outcomes (e.g., cerebral blood flow velocity, gait speed, and biomarkers of cellular senescence). The study is approved by the Advarra IRB (#Pro00053594) and a Data Safety Monitoring Board. It is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT05422885).The future results of this study may identify a novel approach for improving mobility and cognition in older adults, thereby preventing progression to Alzheimer's disease.