New weight loss drug acts like an ‘exercise pill’

The slimming drug revolution seems to have truly arrived. For decades, there have been compounds available to lose weight or improve muscle, but they have always led to dangerous side effects and worsening long-term health. The compromise just wasn’t worth it. A popular weight loss pill still seemed far away.

Now, drugs like Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) — backed by large, lengthy clinical trials — trigger 12 to 18 percent weight loss and significantly reduce the risk of death from heart disease, with minimal side effects. . They are currently available as injections, but pill forms are on the way.

These medications help users lose weight by greatly reducing appetite, and therefore calorie intake. Scientists are also looking for pharmaceuticals that affect the other side of the weight loss coin: calorie expenditure. In short, they would cause the body to act as if it were exercising. A team, led by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, is currently testing a potential candidate.

Exercise pill

Their weight loss drug, SLU-PP-332, acts on estrogen receptor-related receptors (ERRs), which are found in tissues that require a lot of energy, such as skeletal muscles, the liver and the heart. When active, these receptors trigger metabolic changes associated with exercise, such as increasing the ability of muscles to consume oxygen, increasing their breakdown of fat for energy, and speeding up metabolism. .

In a study published earlier this year, the research team administered SLU-PP-332 to healthy mice and found that they could run 70% longer and 45% farther than mice could. not having received the medication.

In a more recent study published late last month, they tested SLU-PP-332 again in mice, this time to observe its effects on weight control and metabolism. They gave the drug to obese mice fed a high-fat diet and gave others a placebo for four weeks. At the end of the study, mice given SLU-PP-332 weighed 12% less than their control counterparts, despite eating the same amount of food. It’s important to note that the weight difference came entirely from reduced fat mass – there was no difference in lean mass. The mice taking the weight-loss drug simply consumed more energy, especially from body fat. There were no serious side effects.

“This compound essentially instructs skeletal muscles to make the same changes seen during endurance training,” said Thomas Burris, professor of pharmacy at the University of Florida and corresponding author of the study. “When you treat mice with this drug, you can see that their entire body metabolism shifts to using fatty acids, which is very similar to what people use when they fast or exercise. “added Burris.

Cautious optimism

The SLU-PP-332 still has a very, very long way to go before it can join Ozempic or Mounjaro on the market. At this point, it is more likely that the project will fail than succeed. Appropriate dosing in humans, balancing side effects and effectiveness, can be difficult to achieve. Or maybe longer trials will reveal side effects. Yet the promising preliminary results from SLU-PP-332 further demonstrate how safe and effective weight loss drugs, recently considered a pipe dream, are set to proliferate in the decades to come, benefiting millions.