Finally! A Pill to Replace Exercise!!
The fragility that comes with aging can hinder one's ability to perform daily activities. To maintain the ability to do things like climb stairs or play with children in old age, it is important to counteract the natural loss of muscle and bone tissue that comes with aging.
Resistance exercise is a powerful way to combat these losses and prevent conditions like sarcopenia (muscle loss) and osteoporosis. However, there are situations where exercise may not be possible, such as in patients with dementia or during temporary bed rest after a hip fracture.
A Pill to the Rescue
Recently, a team of researchers Ono et al. from Tokyo Medical and Dental University discovered a new drug called "locamidazole" or LAMZ that has similar effects on bone and muscle as exercise. This drug could potentially serve as an alternative to exercise for some individuals.
Researchers first conducted in vitro experiments with LAMZ and observed the desired effects on muscle and bone cells. They then proceeded to test the drug on mice.
Mice Responded Well
Healthy mice were given LAMZ orally on a daily basis, and the drug was able to enter their bloodstream and reach both their muscles and bones. After a period of 14 days, the mice who received LAMZ had wider muscle fibres, which resulted in less fatigue during a 15-minute treadmill run and an overall increase in maximal muscle strength.
Additionally, micro-CT scans showed that the mice treated with LAMZ had more bone volume, the improved thickness of their trabecular bone, and increased bone mineral content.
Simulation of Inactivity
But results in healthy mice don’t translate directly to efficacy during inactivity. To address this, the researchers also tested LAMZ in a tail-suspension disuse model, which simulates the effects of inactivity by preventing the hindlimbs of a mouse from bearing any load.
After 14 days of tail suspension, the mice treated with LAMZ were compared to both the control group and the active control group from the first experiment. Although LAMZ was not able to completely prevent bone and muscle loss, it was able to slow down the rate of loss.
Specifically, while the tail-suspended controls experienced a 35% loss of bone mineral content, the loss was reduced to 20% in the tail-suspended mice treated with LAMZ. Additionally, the mice treated with LAMZ had wider muscle fibres, greater bone volume, more trabeculae, fewer osteoclasts, and fewer eroded bony surfaces when compared to the tail-suspended controls.
While not a substitute for exercise, LAMZ was able to partially mitigate the effects of sarcopenia and osteoporosis, making it potentially useful during temporary periods of inactivity.
How Can We Translate This to Humans?
There are several reasons to be sceptical about the potential translation of these results to humans. While the mice treated with LAMZ showed increased muscle fibre size and bone deposition, their weight remained the same as the control group, which raises questions about the overall metabolic implications of the treatment.
Moreover, the male mice used in the experiments were only 7 weeks old, the human equivalent of a young adult, and the effectiveness of LAMZ may differ in older populations, where the physiology of stimulating anabolism in muscle and bone changes with age and sex hormone levels.
The long-term effects of LAMZ are also unknown, as calcium signalling and PGC-1α that the drug affects have various functions in the body.
Additionally, since each experiment was only conducted over 14 days (equivalent to a few months in humans), other side effects of LAMZ may not have emerged in this short time frame.
Finally, there are already approved drugs for treating low bone mineral density and proof-of-concept Phase II trials for drugs to treat sarcopenia, and LAMZ will need to demonstrate equivalent or superior effectiveness with fewer adverse effects to be a viable therapeutic option.
Conclusion
If you thought for a second you might finally be able to get away with no exercise, thing again. While LAMZ has shown promising effects compared to control treatment, it cannot fully replace exercise and should not be used as an excuse for sedentary lifestyles.
LAMZ has only been shown to positively influence muscle and bone and there is no evidence of its effects on cardiovascular or nervous systems or overall metabolism.
It may be a viable option for those who are unable to exercise, but more research is needed to understand its effects on elderly populations and any potential long-term side effects.
Ultimately, exercise remains the best way to prevent sarcopenia and osteoporosis and improve various aspects of health, including cardiovascular capacity, insulin sensitivity, cognition, and mood. No drug cannot fully replicate its diverse benefits.
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