How ‘exercise in bottle’ may soon be a reality, by study

Scientists map 1,000 changes that physical activity causes in the body to create drugs that have the same effects

FORGET squatting until you ache or struggling on a cross trainer. Scientists say ‘exercise in a bottle’ could soon be a reality.

Australian experts have carried out ‘breakthrough’ research, which they say could pave the way for drugs to mimic the benefits of exercise in the body to be created.

They found exercise induces 1,000 molecular changes in the body, and created the world’s first ‘blueprint’ of these.

Lead researcher Professor David James, of the University of Sydney, said: “Exercise is the most powerful therapy for many human diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders.

“However, for many people, exercise isn’t a viable treatment option. This means it is essential we find ways of developing drugs that mimic the benefits of exercise.”

The researchers analysed biopsy samples of skeletal muscle from four untrained, healthy males, following ten minutes of high intensity exercise.

Using an analytical chemistry technique known as mass spectrometry, they studied a process called protein phosphorylation. Protein phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a protein.

The new phosphorus group alters the role of the protein: it can activate, deactivate, or cause a change in its function, allowing cells to regulate biological processes.

The researchers found short, intensive exercise triggers more than 1,000 changes in the body. Many of the changes they discovered had not previously been linked with exercise.

Most traditional drugs target individual molecules, rather than multiple ones.

The exercise blueprint shows that any drug aiming to mimic physical activity will need to target multiple molecules and even pathways in the body.

Co-author Dr Nolan Hoffman, also of the University of Sydney, said: “Exercise produces an extremely complex, cascading set of responses within human muscle. It plays an essential role in controlling energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity.

“While scientists have long suspected that exercise causes a complicated series of changes to human muscle, this is the first time we have been able to map exactly what happens.

“This is a major breakthrough, as it allows scientists to use this information to design a drug that mimics the true beneficial changes caused by exercise.”

Using mathematical and engineering-based analysis, they used the blueprint to see how future drugs could trigger the same changes in the body that exercise does.

They re-iterated that the blueprint revealed that any drug that mimics exercise will need to target multiple molecules and possibly even pathways, which are a combination of molecules working together.

Professor James said: “We believe this is the key to unlocking the riddle of drug treatments to mimic exercise.

“Our data clearly show the complexity of the response: it is not one thing, but rather the drug will have to target multiple things. Our research has provided the roadmap to figure this out.”

*Culled from DailyMailUK online