We all know exercise is good for us. It builds muscle, strengthens bones, lowers blood pressure, and boosts mood. By deciphering how movement benefits the body, researchers hope to develop medicines that can offer some of the same perks, without the workout. The idea isn't to replace exercise but to bring its upsides to people who struggle with frailty, disability, or chronic illness.
The path is far from simple. It will take a lot of experimentation to untangle the myriad pathways by which exercise promotes health, and identifying the cascade of hormones, enzymes, and other molecules is only the first step. More than 90% of treatments that enter human studies fail. There are regulatory hurdles too. The FDA approves medications to treat diseases, not to enhance wellness, says Thomas Burris, a pharmacologist at the University of Florida whose work focuses on diseases that respond to exercise, like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and dementia.
There may never be a pill that delivers all the benefits of exercise, but research could lead to medicines that mimic some aspects of working out. Burris and his colleagues are focused on a receptor that is always switched on, even without exercise. Working out appears to boost that receptor in muscle cells, which helps bolster endurance over time. Burris's lab designed a drug that cranks up the receptor's activity directly, and treated mice ran longer and farther than untreated mice. Burris founded a company called Pelagos to carry the work into a clinical trial.
Other workout-mimicking drugs have already entered human studies. In June, the biotech firm Cambrian Bio reported that its experimental drug ATX-304 boosted metabolism and reduced liver and belly fat in people with obesity and prediabetes. Cambrian hopes it will help people lose weight without losing muscle, a common concern with GLP-1 medicines. Our understanding of how exercise benefits the body is still coming into focus, and drug development is prone to failure.
Source: MIT Technology Review · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing