The new treatment, developed and tested by researchers at the University of Florida in the United States, is in the early stages of development, but has the potential to treat diseases such as obesity, diabetes and age-related muscle loss. Unlike currently used weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, which affect appetite, SLU-PP-332 (name of the new compound) does not affect appetite or food intake.
Instead, the drug developed and tested by researchers at the University of Florida stimulates a natural metabolic pathway that normally responds to exercise. This makes the body act as if it is training for a marathon, leading to increased energy expenditure and faster fat metabolism in the body. It belongs to a class of substances known as “exercise mimetics”, which provide some of the benefits of exercise without increasing physical activity.
“This compound basically tells skeletal muscle to make the same changes that you see during resistance training. When you treat mice with the drug, you can see that their entire body’s metabolism switches to using fatty acids, which is very similar to what people use when they are fasting or exercising. And the animals start to lose weight,” Thomas Burris, a pharmacy professor at the University of Florida who led recent research into the new drug, said in a statement.
In the study, the team tested the drug on obese rats. Those who received the compound twice a day for a month gained 10 times less fat than untreated animals and lost 12% of their body weight. Although everyone continued to eat the same amount of food and do the same amount of exercise.
The medicine also increases resistance. The mice were able to run almost 50% further than they could before.
How the new medicine works
SLU-PP-332 targets a group of proteins known as ERRs, which are responsible for activating some of the most important metabolic pathways in energy-depleting tissues such as muscles, the heart and the brain. ERRs are more active when people exercise, but have been difficult to activate with medications.
In another paper published in March in ACS Chemical Biology, researchers reported that they had successfully designed SLU-PP-332 to increase the activity of ERRs. They also observed that the compound allowed normal-weight mice to run 70% further and go 45% further than mice that did not receive the drug.
In other work that the laboratory is about to publish, researchers found evidence that the compound can also treat heart failure by strengthening the heart muscle of rats.
So far, the drug has not generated serious side effects. The next step in the drug’s development is to refine its structure to make it available in tablet form instead of an injection. The drug would then be tested for side effects in more animal models before moving into human trials.
The new treatment, developed and tested by researchers at the University of Florida in the United States, is in the early stages of development, but has the potential to treat diseases such as obesity, diabetes and age-related muscle loss. Unlike currently used weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, which affect appetite, SLU-PP-332 (name of the new compound) does not affect appetite or food intake.
Instead, the drug developed and tested by researchers at the University of Florida stimulates a natural metabolic pathway that normally responds to exercise. This makes the body act as if it is training for a marathon, leading to increased energy expenditure and faster fat metabolism in the body. It belongs to a class of substances known as “exercise mimetics”, which provide some of the benefits of exercise without increasing physical activity.
“This compound basically tells skeletal muscle to make the same changes that you see during resistance training. When you treat mice with the drug, you can see that their entire body’s metabolism switches to using fatty acids, which is very similar to what people use when they are fasting or exercising. And the animals start to lose weight,” Thomas Burris, a pharmacy professor at the University of Florida who led recent research into the new drug, said in a statement.
In the study, the team tested the drug on obese rats. Those who received the compound twice a day for a month gained 10 times less fat than untreated animals and lost 12% of their body weight. Although everyone continued to eat the same amount of food and do the same amount of exercise.
The medicine also increases resistance. The mice were able to run almost 50% further than they could before.
How the new medicine works
SLU-PP-332 targets a group of proteins known as ERRs, which are responsible for activating some of the most important metabolic pathways in energy-depleting tissues such as muscles, the heart and the brain. ERRs are more active when people exercise, but have been difficult to activate with medications.
In another paper published in March in ACS Chemical Biology, researchers reported that they had successfully designed SLU-PP-332 to increase the activity of ERRs. They also observed that the compound allowed normal-weight mice to run 70% further and go 45% further than mice that did not receive the drug.
In other work that the laboratory is about to publish, researchers found evidence that the compound can also treat heart failure by strengthening the heart muscle of rats.
So far, the drug has not generated serious side effects. The next step in the drug’s development is to refine its structure to make it available in tablet form instead of an injection. The drug would then be tested for side effects in more animal models before moving into human trials.
