A drug that can mimic these effects could offset the muscle atrophy and weakness
Exercise is the best way to boost your health and overall fitness, but what if a pill could offer the same benefits as a workout? It doesn't seem like a far-fetched idea. Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis have tested new drug compounds that appear to mimic the physical benefits of exercise in rodents. According to the researchers, a pill may someday be able to do the same in humans.
The scientists say the pill could offer other benefits including making us feel younger, working against obesity, heart failure, and kidney decline, as well as staving off cognitive decline.
The researchers were scheduled to present the findings on Monday at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
"We cannot replace exercise; exercise is important on all levels," says Bahaa Elgendy, the project's principal investigator ahead of his presentation. "If I can exercise, I should go ahead and get the physical activity. But there are so many cases in which a substitute is needed."
In an interview with Fortune, Mr Elgendy said, "We're not saying by any means or forms that people shouldn't exercise."
Adding, "But [the drug] hopefully will help people who cannot exercise. And, in other cases, it can complement exercise programs to give more benefits to patients as well."
"Or, it can be combined with the new wave of drugs: anti-diabetic drugs and drugs that are used for obesity and weight loss."
A drug that can mimic these effects could offset the 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 carry out regular physical activity, ACS said in a press release.
Mr Elgendy and his team have spent about a decade developing a compound called SLU-PP=332, it activates a group of proteins called estrogen-related receptors- -ERRa, ERRb, and ERRy- which Elgendy says are "responsible for activating some of the most important metabolic pathways in tissues with high-energy demand."
The team then created new, patentable molecules to make them more safe, potent and efficacious than SLU-PP-332.
"The new generations we developed that I'm going to talk about today, these are predicted to make it hopefully to the clinic one day in the next five years," Mr Elgendy tells Fortune. "The translation from animals to humans takes a long time. We need to do a lot more preclinical testing, which is vital to ensure safety."