Sorry for the highjack Kay, but I know everybody gathers at your thread.
Read this today. Could be interesting…?
Friday » August 1 » 2008
Pills are where the action is
Drugs that mimic exercise are open to abuse by athletes
MARGARET MUNRO
Canwest News Service
Friday, August 01, 2008
Exercise in pill form was unveiled yesterday - along with a warning that Olympians in Beijing could be tested for abusing the medications that transform mice into long-distance runners.
The drugs “genetically reprogram” muscle fibres, mimicking many of the effects of exercise, say researchers, who describe the impact on rodents as “stunning.”
There is a good chance the drugs will work in humans and enable athletes to boost their endurance, says molecular biologist Ronald Evans, who heads the team at the Salk Institute in California. He also envisions the drugs giving couch potatoes a workout and helping bed-ridden individuals stay in shape.
His team is reporting in the journal Cell that mice given the experimental medications ran up to a kilometre, or 68 per cent, farther than untreated mice.
The drugs, taken orally, are readily available from laboratory supply companies. While they are not approved for human use, there is concern some athletes may already be taking them to try to shave time off their races.
The World Anti-Doping Agency is aware of the possibility and has been working with Evans “to develop and implement ways to detect these molecules,” said Frederic Donze, senior media relations manager for the Montreal-based agency that will check for a long-list of performance-enhancing drugs in Beijing.
The molecules, known as GW1516 and AICAR, mimic many of the physiological effects of exercise, says Evans, who describes them as “exercise pills” that trick muscles into “believing” and performing as if they have been working out.
In their research paper they describe how the drugs genetically reprogram muscle fibres to burn fat and contract repeatedly without
fatigue.
In what Evans describes as a “couch-potato experiment” they treated sedentary mice with AICAR for a month before putting them on a treadmill. Remarkably the treated mice ran almost 600 metres in 40 minutes, or 44 per cent longer, than untreated mice.
They report GW1516 had an even more dramatic effect, but only when coupled with exercise. The scientists had mice run 30 minutes a day for a month, with one group also receiving GW1516. When the mice were put on the treadmill after four weeks, the GW1516 treated mice ran more than three hours and three kilometres, or 68 per cent farther than the mice that had only done exercise training. “The dramatic effect of the drug was stunning,” Evans said.
Trials to test how the drugs affect human muscles and endurance have yet to start, but Evans said there is “a very good chance” they will be a similar response in humans.
Evans says the molecules have long been of interest to drug companies and there are human trials under way using them to treat high cholesterol and heart disease.
Evans sees plenty of potential for use, and abuse, of the drugs to try to improve endurance.
“We’re not trying to bypass the need to exercise,” Evans said. “But the idea that you could have exercise in a pill has a lot of potential benefits and could have widespread and valuable use.”
He says the drugs might offer “a jump start” to people who are so obese they cannot exercise and might also counter the muscle-wasting effects of aging and diseases such as muscular dystrophy.
Couch potatoes and people who simply don’t get enough exercise might also benefit by popping a pill while watching TV, he says.
Evans’s team appears to be on to something that could have “far-reaching implications,” said James Rupert, who studies human kinetics at the University of B.C. “This may be huge for people with muscle-wasting conditions, or for muscle loss with age.”
Rupert stresses it is a “big jump” to go from mice to humans. “But this is certainly an intriguing start,” said Rupert, who expects athletes looking for an edge will be tempted by the drugs.
Anti-doping officials are trying to stave off abuse.
The anti-doping agency received “key information” from Evans to develop and implement ways to detect the molecules, Donze says.
The agency is not revealing whether it will test for AICAR and GW1516 in Beijing. But Donze noted that testing could be done retroactively because the International Olympic Committee stores doping control samples for eight years for potential future retesting.
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008
Copyright © 2008 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc… All rights reserved.
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc… All rights reserved.