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Robert F. Bukaty/AP
Exercise Pill Works on Mice, But Will it Work on Men?
August 01, 2008 04:52 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
A recent study has found that a pill can mimic the effects of aerobic exercise in mice, without any physical activity required.
30-Second Summary
Scientists have found that a chemical compound called AICAR changes the physical makeup of mice's muscles, conferring a variety of physical benefits, including increased endurance, resistance to weight gain and an improved response to insulin.
The mice were able to run 44 percent farther on a treadmill than other mice who did not receive the drug, according to a team of researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies that released the study on Thursday.
The drug transformed muscle tissue "from sugar-burning fast-twitch fibers to fat-burning slow-twitch ones, the same change that occurs in distance runners and cyclists through training," reported the Los Angeles Times.
A key part of the study was the identification of chemical pathways that are activated by exercise that converge to increase the animals' physical endurance.
The study raises questions about whether or not the drug would work on humans. Michael Rennie, a physiologist at the University of Nottingham in Britain, says that the drug had no effect on human subjects during a study that he conducted on its potential to treat diabetes.
"Mice are not men," Rennie said to the Los Angeles Times.
Darrell Neufer, a professor of sports medicine at East Carolina University, said to Wired that it would be nearly impossible to create an "exercise in a pill" drug for humans that would mimic all of the benefits of exercise.
"Physical activity is so important for maintaining the health of the human body in almost every human organ system," he said.
The mice were able to run 44 percent farther on a treadmill than other mice who did not receive the drug, according to a team of researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies that released the study on Thursday.
The drug transformed muscle tissue "from sugar-burning fast-twitch fibers to fat-burning slow-twitch ones, the same change that occurs in distance runners and cyclists through training," reported the Los Angeles Times.
A key part of the study was the identification of chemical pathways that are activated by exercise that converge to increase the animals' physical endurance.
The study raises questions about whether or not the drug would work on humans. Michael Rennie, a physiologist at the University of Nottingham in Britain, says that the drug had no effect on human subjects during a study that he conducted on its potential to treat diabetes.
"Mice are not men," Rennie said to the Los Angeles Times.
Darrell Neufer, a professor of sports medicine at East Carolina University, said to Wired that it would be nearly impossible to create an "exercise in a pill" drug for humans that would mimic all of the benefits of exercise.
"Physical activity is so important for maintaining the health of the human body in almost every human organ system," he said.
Headline Links: 'Scientists Say They've Found Exercise in a Pill'
The lead researcher of the study says that he has already been contacted by athletes and obese individuals who have heard about his research on AICAR. Ronald Evans, a molecular physiologist at the Salk Institute, says that he has notified anti-doping officials, who are developing a test for the drug before the Beijing Olympics. AICAR is naturally produced in human muscle cells and can be easily purchased from scientific supply companies.
Source: Los Angeles Times (free registration may be required)
A 2000 study by BYU and Washington University scientists found that AICAR "does not fully mimic the adaptive response to exercise" in humans, according to Darrell Neufer, a professor of sports medicine specializing in cellular energy systems at East Carolina University.
Source: Wired Science
Related Topics: 'New Study Says Exercise More, Here's How'
A new study suggests that moderate exercise is not sufficient for those trying to lose weight. Experts say exercise must become an integral part of your life in order for it to work. The findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine July 28, strongly encourage those who are overweight or obese to allot 60 minutes most days of the week to aerobic exercise.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: 'Exercise and the Brain'
Years of research indicate that exercise is the closest thing that humans might ever get to a magic potion or a fountain of youth. Regular physical exercise confers a multitude of physical and mental benefits: building muscle is said to lower the risk of osteoporosis in women; exercise produces endorphins associated with improved mood; and exercise lowers the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions, leading causes of death in the U.S. What's even more exciting is that a "rapidly growing movement in science" suggests that exercise strengthens brainpower."
Source: findingDulcinea
A summary of the AICAR study conducted by the Salk Institute researchers is available in the July 31 advanced online edition of Cell journal. "The benefits of endurance exercise on general health make it desirable to identify orally active agents that would mimic or potentiate the effects of exercise to treat metabolic diseases .... We therefore tested the effect of pathway-specific drugs on endurance capacities of mice in a treadmill running test."
Source: Cell Journal
The Salk Institute team reported in a press release that the drug could potentially benefit endurance athletes or be applied in the treatment of muscle diseases such as wasting and frailty, as well as obesity and related metabolic disorders.
Source: Salk Institute for Biological Studies
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