Miracle pill could deliver the benefits of exercise without moving a muscle
It is more than said that exercise is good for your health: it improves cardiovascular health, controls weight, strengthens muscles and bones, improves mental health, increases energy and endurance, reduces the risk of chronic diseases and improves quality of life in general.
But many times there are factors that get in the way of exercising, such as time, fatigue, or perhaps a medical condition that prevents it. With all those people in mind, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis spent 10 years creating compounds that could mimic the benefits of exercise, and they appear to be very close to achieving it.
Researchers reported Monday at the American Chemical Society (ACS) spring meeting on new compounds that appear capable of mimicking the physical drive of exercise, at least within the cells of rodents.
This is the compound SLU-PP-332, which activates estrogen-related receptors (ERR), essential for metabolism and muscle growth, mimicking the effects of exercise.
Estrogen-related receptors are a class of specialized proteins that play a crucial role in regulating energy metabolism and muscle function. These receptors are activated by certain signals, such as physical exercise, and trigger a series of metabolic changes in the muscles.
There are three main types of estrogen-related receptors: ERRα, ERRβ, and ERRγ. Each of these receptors has specific functions and can influence different aspects of muscle metabolism and response to exercise.
When a person exercises, the activity levels of these receptors can increase. In particular, ERRα has been identified as a key mediator in the metabolic response to exercise and improving the ability of muscle to generate energy.
The compound SLU-PP-332 developed by Elgendy and his team is capable of activating all three types of ERR, thus mimicking the effects of exercise on these proteins.
In experiments with mice, the team found that this compound increased a type of fatigue-resistant muscle fiber and at the same time improved the animals’ endurance when running on a rodent treadmill.
“We cannot replace exercise; exercise is important at all levels,” Bahaa Elgendy, principal investigator of the project and professor of anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said in a statement. “If I can exercise, I should go ahead and do physical activity. But there are many cases in which a substitute is needed.”
The idea is to encapsulate in a drug the ability of exercise to improve the metabolism and growth of muscle cells, as well as muscle performance.
Mimicking these effects could compensate for muscle atrophy and weakness that can occur as people age or are affected by cancer, certain genetic conditions, or other reasons they are unable to engage in regular physical activity. According to Elgendy, it could also counteract the effects of other drugs, such as new weight-loss medications that cause loss of both fat and muscle.
The team compared the potency of SLU-PP-332 with that of the new compounds by looking at RNA, a measure of gene expression, of about 15,000 genes in rat cardiac muscle cells. The new compounds caused a greater increase in the presence of RNA, suggesting that they more potently simulate the effects of exercise, the statement explains.
“These drug targets are not treatable, and if we can do so, this could lead to the development of therapies for some of the most challenging diseases we face today, such as neurodegenerative diseases and heart failure,” Elgendy said in a video from the American Chemical Society.
ERR activity also appears to counteract harmful processes that occur in the brain in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and those suffering from other neurodegenerative conditions. While SLU-PP-332 cannot pass into the brain, some of the new compounds were developed to do so.
“In all of these conditions, ERRs play an important role,” Elgendy said. “If you have a compound that can activate them effectively, you could generate many beneficial effects.”